Spring Fever

Do you have spring fever? I sure do, and sometimes that is not a good thing for my writing.

• Children's author Suzanne Lieurance has recently blogged about a success journal and how important it is to record your positive actions which lead to your goals for 2010.

She is so motivating, because spring fever can certainly get in the way of the tasks a writer needs to do daily to reach the 3 main writing goals for 2010. On the other hand, spring fever may be just what you need to jump start your writing activities to ensure a more productive and prosperous year. Here is how spring can move you forward.

1. Spring clean your office. Clear your desk of the piles and in doing so you will discover those snippets of conversation or those notes you made in the middle of winter about a great story idea. This effort can be invigorating and stimulate your brain to actually write more meat to your story idea leading to finishing tasks related to one of your goals.

2. Reorganize your files with your 3 goals for 2010 in mind. Make a pile or folder for each of the goals and place your notes for those goals into the right place. You may have more accomplished towards one of your goals than you think.

3. Get the business side of your writing career organized before the end of this first quarter while you still have a handle on where those pesky receipts are lying and how much ink/paper/postage you have spent thus far. Calculate how much you have made and how much tax you may owe for the first three months in the year. Seeing these figures in black and white will do two things. It will show you how financially successful the year has been and if the numbers are low, it will motivate you to jump start the next quarter to be more lucrative.

4. Take notes when outside enjoying the spring temperatures. There are new article and story ideas all around you. How about allergy season or a new way to use recycled materials in the garden this year? What about your thoughts in essay form about the economy and why you are growing your own food, or how to save more money at the grocery, the car dealer, or when landscaping your yard for spring? See what I mean? Spring brings about a whole new season with new thoughts and new ideas, or the same ideas with a fresh spin on them can be a great way to write and submit more material.

5. A new quarter can be a spring board for new writing habits just like January is a spring board for resolutions for a new year. Re-evaluate your writing goals and make a new plan. Look at what is working and what isn't by reading through your success journal. Be honest with yourself and make a new plan for the next three months, making changes where you need to bump up your writing success.

You may find with spring fever raging that you need to set new goals. Maybe the 3 goals you set in January are not the same ones you have today, or maybe you have already met those goals and you need new goals. Take some time today to rethink your plan for the next quarter. Get organized and renew your enthusiasm for your writing career.

Make this spring your best ever and enjoy the process. Good luck and let me know how you do. Remember, we are looking forward to a successful 2010.