Workshop:
Six Conversations for Writing Creative
Journals
“A life should be as carefully planned as a work of
art so that it takes on characteristic shape of your mind (the true meaning of
‘lifestyle’).” Kenneth Atchity
Choose One
Priority and Ask
1. What are the specific steps I need to take to
make this happen?
We often are juggling several priorities that may,
or may not, overlap or compete for our time and energy. Vocationally and
personally.
So
one first step is to consider the cost involved emotionally, physically,
spiritually, financially and relationally. It’s one thing for a writer to ask family
and friends to ignore you for a month for the annual NaNoWriMo, or even for a
season to crank out a draft in three months. But what could happen to your
relationships in the long term if they are not willing to support you? Just how
much are you willing to give up or adjust in order to find a balance.
Once
we gather as much insight as possible we are able to prioritize within healthy
boundaries.
2. Which of these steps can I do without any
additional knowledge? Which ones need research or a class or a co-worker to
assist?
Set Goals
3. Examine a time frame. What is the goal for the
next year? Then break it down into monthly-weekly-daily goals.
4. Set realistic goals. Goals need to be measurable
and attainable within a defined timeframe.
5. Now re-examine. Have you built in some gap time?
Are there seasons of the year that you have more time/less time? How could this
impact your schedule?
6. What involves other people? How can you
synchronize your schedules to be mutually supportive rather than friction
based?
For example, several years ago an associate pastor
and I were in charge of an ongoing weekly yearlong project. Frankly, within a
few weeks we realized that we were driving each other crazy, both time wise and
in content productivity. Which surprised us because we both felt a strong
commitment to the project and up until then had worked well together.
However, we were trying to do everything by phone or
in bite-size conversations, and our miscommunication was creating difficulties
for other people as well as ourselves. We recognized that we needed to set
aside a scheduled meeting time to organize our planning and then discovered the
root of the problem. When we sat down with our calendars, we realized that,
except for the weekly event, we did not have one timeslot that matched. Our
chaos was growing because there literally was no time to prepare together. Once
we talked through the situation, we were able to define a new strategy—a change
for both of us—and a learning curve that developed new skill sets for each of
us.
6. Examine where you may need to set boundaries.
Worried about a conversation you need to have with a co-worker? Try writing it
all down in a letter first to vet all your feelings. Then when calm and clear
about the issues, invite them into a discussion.
Action
Steps:
1. Choose a required challenging project that
either you have committed to or been assigned to. Do a general overall time
frame.
2. Choose a personal project close to your
heart that you have had to delay several times and does not have a specified
deadline. Do a general overall time frame for it as well.
3. Using the above questions answer them for
both these projects side-by-side.
4. What are the strengths and weaknesses for
each? How can you gain from each?
Share: What
boundaries did you discover that you did not expect?
Read deep, marcy
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