And so we come to the end of the day. I have just put 63 items in my on-line shopping trolley. It tool me 53 minutes. I probably haven’t remembered everything, and I could probably have done without a few things if I really cut back, but where’s the fun in sitting at a computer trying to trim a couple of quid off the grocery bill. The easiest saving was chocolate, but I feel that’s money worth investing to keep Julia happy.
I will, by the time this is finished, have proved that I can write 2,500 words in a day without too much trouble. This is important as I’ve been struggling recently. The trick is to have a subject in mind. I’ve been trying to write articles without having an outline in mind. It doesn’t work so I’m going back to the old way of planning twice and writing once. Plan – write – plan – write doesn’t work for me.
I’m planning on writing at least a dozen magazine articles over the next year. One a month is a reasonable figure and it will help to pace me. How many actually get published remains to be seen. I have a list of magazines and a list of subjects. All I need to do now is allocate subjects to magazines and set times for writing.
In SMART terms I have specific subjects and magazines in mind, and can count up to 12, so they are measurable. They are assignable because it’s me who has to do it. They are generally realistic, though I may need some help with photographs, and the timing will take care of itself. I may write one a month, but editors will put them in when they want. My last one took six months to appear. The shop owner wrote an in-depth banknote article during lockdown, which will be published in two parts. Projected publication is “next year”. It seems a lot of people have been writing articles while they have been stuck at home.
I will also be writing fifty two blog posts on coins and collectables during the coming year. I’m not quite sure when that will start as it will need a lot of work to keep it going once I do start. The idea is to use that to warm me up for the articles and to form a body of work I can point to when pitching for work. Two thousand posts on bread, dung and why the old days were better are not going to do that so it’s time to get to work and organise myself.
That’s 2,500 words, and it’s now time to sign off, just after midnight, add photos and links and get to bed, because guess what?
Tomorrow is blood test day. I believe they are now charging for car parking again, so brace yourself for as tirade about the evils of the NHS tomorrow. After that I will calm down and try to establish a niche as a write on coins and collectables.
Photo of Farmer Ted is reproduced from Who is the Best Bear? and the Care Bears from Something you don’t see every day.
Links to the rest of the day-
