Some writers just seem to be lucky--they get their novel or script or memoir written, they find a great agent, they get a good advance or fee... But usually there is a tremendous amount of focused energy and effort behind these 'lucky' events.
The key word is "focus." One of the biggest obstacles to reaching our writing goals is getting distracted. Often we are like little kids—they pick up one toy, play with it for a moment, then spot another one and drop the first one and go over to that one… It’s not necessarily a bad way to play, but it is a bad way to try to achieve anything. I speak from experience!
One solution: have your main writing goals written clearly and concisely on an index card or sticky note and look at them every morning and also every time you are tempted to go off on a tangent. Ask yourself: is doing this new or different thing consistent with the goals I have set for myself? If not, re-focus and put aside the temptation. Put this review of your goals at the top of your to-do list for the day, otherwise it’s easy to forget it and ‘wake up’ a few months later no closer to our goals than when we started.
When you decide where you want to go and then move toward it every day you'll be surprised at how lucky you are.
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