The 12 Week Year for Writers

CHAPTER 3CRAFTING YOUR WRITING VISION

The first step to creating a powerful writing system is to create a compelling vision for yourself.^* Your vision is the most fundamental source of energy for your actions. A vibrant sense of the better future you're trying to build is the ultimate motivator. It is your reason for getting out of bed every day and for putting in the time at your desk. Anyone who has written anything longer than a grocery list knows that writing isn't always rainbows and unicorns. There are many days when your brain is fried, and the words flow like molasses. Knowing why you're writing and being excited about where your writing is taking you is what will keep you moving. On the flip side, if you don't have a strong vision, you aren't going to have the willpower to struggle through those inevitable times when you just don't want to do anything, much less write.

Another reason vision is so important is that dreaming big can help us push past our self-imposed limitations. In fact, the number one pitfall in the visioning process is that people tend to think too small. Great results come from big thinking. In the wonderful novel Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo, the main character, Sully, is a cranky old guy in his 70's who gets by doing odd jobs for an hourly wage with his 20-something buddy, Rub, whose favorite phrase is, “You know what I wisht?” You might imagine that Rub dreams big, but “The thing that always amazed Sully about Rub's wishes was that most of them ...