52 Weeks of Writing: Author Journal and Planner by Mariëlle S. Smith

52 Weeks of Writing

Author Journal and Planner

Are you ready to become the writer you were always meant to be?

52 Weeks of Writing will get you cracking by making you plan, track, reflect on, and check in with your progress and goals an entire year long.

52 Weeks of Writing will help you dig deep by offering questions and writing prompts designed to unravel whatever truths about your writing you’re ready for.

52 Weeks of Writing will keep you inspired by delivering a thought-provoking writing quote every week.

- Do you struggle with setting goals that reflect your daily reality?

- Do you want to practise breaking goals down into manageable chunks?

- Would you like more insight into your writing habit(s) and figure out why you keep getting in your own way?

- And do you want to create a sustainable writing practice that honours your needs and desires as a writer?

Then the 52 Weeks of Writing: Author Journal and Planner is for you.

52 Weeks of Writing brings together every lesson Mariëlle S. Smith has learned as a writing coach and writer.

Wary as she is of comparisonitis and unhealthy competition, this author journal and planner was designed to help writers develop and fine-tune a practice that works for them.

If you’re ready to get out of your own way and become the writer you’re meant to be, pick up your copy of 52 Weeks of Writing today.

Purchase Link

https://mswordsmith.nl/journal/

A safe space to get out of your own way

Nothing beats 1:1 advice.

As a writing coach, I know that. I live and breathe that. But, I also know that good writing coaches don’t come cheap. No matter how much you’re stuck or afraid to even begin, hiring one just isn’t always possible.

Knowing that there are more people out there than I can help one on one hit me hard last year. While no journal or planner can be a substiture for an actual writing coach, it’s when I started to look for ways to turn my coaching material into something that would be more accesible and have a wider reach.

The result is 52 Weeks of Writing. Everything I’ve learned over the past several years—as a writing coach, a writer, and even an editor—I poured into this author journal and planner.

What did I want this journal and planner to be? A safe space for writers to figure out why they keep getting in their own way as they dream up where they would like to be. Despite me not actually being there in real time as you go through the planning, the questions, the writing quotes, and prompts, I wanted 52 Weeks of Writing to bridge that gap as best as I could.

And with success it seems. As one reviewer on Amazon said, ‘it’s like having a writing coach sit down with you every week’.

Planning isn’t enough

Planning alone only gets us so far. Journaling about and reflecting on our plans and achievements, that’s what gets us to the root of our struggles. And we need to get to the root if we want to heal and move towards the goals we dreamed up.

As I write these words, I’m sitting in my sea-view apartment on the coast of Cyprus, a small island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. Every day, I get to do what I love—I write, and I help other writers do the same. I’ve published eleven books in the past year alone. However, my life wasn’t always like this. In fact, it looked nothing like it until quite recently.

Why? Because, until quite recently, I avoided journaling at all costs.

I’ve been into yoga for about eight years. But, while I’ve embraced many of the yogic principles, I never got into the whole being mindful, sitting still, allowing thoughts to come up thing.

We avoid things for a reason. For me, it was the fear of uncovering why I wasn’t happy. I kept telling myself I was content, but truth is I wasn’t even that. I was at a concert with a friend two and a half years ago when I suddenly felt so alive it hit me just how dead I felt on the inside on other days.

Honesty and courage

The next day, I bought a brand-new journal and started writing. I’d journaled before, and it’d always felt such a useless exercise. They say writing it down—like saying it aloud—makes it real, but we underestimate how easy it is to forget what we’ve spelled out. Especially when there’s something large at stake, like realising you’re still not doing what it takes to be where you want to be.

This time, however, I knew just planning wouldn’t get me there. Not without reflection. It takes writing it down, rereading your own words, and then having the guts to be honest with yourself again and again. About where you truly want to be. What is keeping you back. Why you’re letting that get in the way. My journal became the safe space where I could figure things out once and for all.

Fast forward a couple of years, I quit my day job and moved countries to write and help others write full-time. Now, I’m not saying I wouldn’t have gotten there without journaling, but if I hadn’t started to journal like I meant it, I wouldn’t have gotten here this fast.

For one thing, I would have never created 52 Weeks of Writing. I wouldn’t have published any of those eleven books, to be honest. And while I know it’s not 1:1 advice, let me tell you this: if I was able to get out of my own way enough to start planning for the life I’ve always wanted, so can you.

All you need is a safe space and the courage to look inside. Whether that space comes in the shape of a journal or that of one on one sesssions with your writing coach.

5 stars and strong encouragement to buy this as a gift for yourself and for any aspiring writer you know. Full of quotes, prompts and encouragement to pause, reflect upon and capture your thoughts, this journal planner will gently prod you into taking action and moving forward towards your goals: goals you thought were only dreams. By taking action and celebrating your progress, you will be amazed at what you can and will accomplish.
This book reaches you on different levels and via various methods. Naturally some exercises involve repetition but each week is a different experience.

Personally I love this sort of book in a print format.