Recently I’ve been surprised at how the concept of story ties into setting goals for my business. When I look for story, it’s mainly in books that I read or movies that I watch. The movies that I love are those with lots of action or intricacies within the plot. I look for these stories probably even more so now that I’m actively writing my own books.
While I’m editing my historical fiction novel, I visualize concepts in my mind. Sometimes my thoughts fly so fast that I am unable to convey clearly what I want to say and my writing tends to skip around. While I was teaching elementary and middle school students, I got into the habit of following a PowerPoint to stay on track, especially as my classes expanded. Now, whenever I’m working through a story and anticipate writing multiple story plots, I’ve found it much easier to develop some sort of loose outline — yes, even for someone (like me) whose weakness is planning!
This concept gives me a boundary line with which to house all of my meandering thoughts. The hero’s journey can be found in many books, which is generally the story concept of a calling, a journey, successes and failures, a climax, and an ending. It also usually includes specific characters and guides to be expected through the telling of the story. Not all book concepts follow this path, but it is the basic one that is taught in school writing classes and works well for setting goals in the creative field. I’ve started using a similar idea with the goals I’m setting for my art business and novel writing. I hope that through setting aside specific steps to reach each milestone, I can ultimately reach my goal.
I have the challenging aspiration of combining my two most favorite things: books and art. Since I’m within a year of starting out on this full-time, and since I am working hard to learn about the business aspect of an artist, I have a lot to learn. Right now it feels like I have two full-time jobs and I’m not doing excellent at either! However, in time, I hope consistency and hard work will pan out and I will see these milestones come to pass. It’s humbling, but forces me to think outside the box, too. I’m doing my best to consider the details of my work, but not to lose the creative side of me, either. Some days it’s a step at a time.
Earlier this week I was chatting with a friend on how we know what is the right thing to do versus the wrong thing to do. How can humans say positively that God has called them to something? Well, at times, I can’t say 100% that I am called to work on my art or to write books. But I know that I enjoy it and that it makes me a less stressed person to be able to create from my heart. It may not always look like this. I have several different sites that I’m pulling from to help create the best art I can, working at odd times, and constantly finding places around here that will look at my books. But for now, it’s what I am doing and I’m determined to do it with my whole heart.
For a person like me, who loves to have different things to aim for but doesn’t always plan, laying out a plan step by step might seem to be a barrier to creativity. But it is not! I now follow a planner every day to complete my “work” tasks. Milestones aren’t constraints; they help me move forward consistently. I have goals that I want to reach by the end of the year and my natural bend to “just see what happens” might force some wonderful creativity out of me, but without a plan, I will not make as much progress as I would like. In the same manner that I train for a marathon, I have to have some kind of schedule to follow every day so that I complete what I need in order to be ready when I reach my goal. That is my hope for this writing project and art business!
As you might be able to tell, this creative endeavor is a constant work in progress, but it keeps me aiming toward the goals I want to accomplish, and that in itself is worth it!
Step by step,
Hannah Marie.
