Audely Bensen Writes

From Pintrest Here's a confession: I love to plan.  I love planning more than I actually like doing anything.  I spent hours this week working on my current novel outline.  As in, writing and re-writing my outline, searching for holes, figuring out the best way to graphically represent the plot, and then re-outlining again.   You know what I didn't do much of? Write.  For the last week the above quote has been posted on the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood's Winter Writing Festival website.  Each time I read it, I feel a tiny kick in the pants.  What are you doing, sitting here and planning?  Get moving!  But, there's also this:  A month ago, I watched Tomi's video on goal setting  ( and t hen I set some vague goals! See, I never learn ).  Tomi told us to do something that I'm good at, something that I love to do: Tomi told us to plan.  Think hard and define your goal, and then set yourself a timeli...

My writing goals for 2018:  Finish writing a mystery novel by March  Edit by July Submit manuscript somewhere (clearly, I need to do more of tip #2, do research here) by September Write outline and prep materials for a medieval romance by November In order to accomplish these goals, I'll be participating in this year's Winter Writing Festival , organized by the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood .  I have 50 days to accumulate 50 points.  I'm gaining points by doing the following:  Write for 20 minutes - 1 pt Edit 1 scene - 1 pt Read for research for 1 hour - 1 pt Complete 1 character sketch - 1pt  The Winter Writing Festival seems like a great way to push myself towards my year-long writing goals.  I'll be working on my mystery novel, with the hope of having a finished first draft by the end of the festival.  I'm planning to log my points here weekly.  Who else is writing in the festival?  

Happy new year to all!  This year I'm making a commitment to write more: more frequently, more genres, and more styles.  As part of that commitment, I'm starting this blog to document my progress and the challenges I encounter on the way.   What are your new year's goals?