Week 08 Wednesday Task: A Perfect World

[rejectionchallenge]

This one is, as previously noted, a bit of a doozy.

Name your dream. Cameron is murky on what constitutes a dream, but from context, this is meant to be a dream about something you want to accomplish or become. Write it down. "In a perfect world, I would love to ___."

Name one concrete goal that signifies that this dream has been accomplished; Cameron describes this goal as "true north" on the "emotional compass". For example, I might consider my goal accomplished if I get 80 rejections in a year. Someone else might want to write something that gets nominated for the Yuletide fanfiction exchange, or to make enough money from writing not to need another job. From the outside, their goal might look the same: "be a writer." But everyone's true north is (potentially) different.

To be perfectly honest, I read the "true north" part about eight times and I'm still not entirely sure I get it, but maybe others can elaborate?

In a perfect world, five years from now, where would you like to be in relation to your dream and true north?

In the present world, what action can you take this year to move you closer? This month? This week? Today? Right now? Like for example, today I can convert one longish story into a flash story that will be easy to rewrite and easy to reject quickly. Right now I can open up that file and cut one paragraph down to a sentence! Hold on, I'm going to do that now. . .

[. . .]

[. . .]

Ok, but wait, there's more! List your dream. List its true north. Select a role model, someone who has already achieved that dream and that true north. Make an action plan. Five years, three years, one year, one month, one week, now. Choose an action. Cameron emphasizes that reading this book is an action (because of course it is) & for those of you following along without a copy of your own, this counts too. But maybe don't use "reading this book" for all your actions; I'm just saying.

Did you do your morning pages today?

Comments

[perfectworry]

I think the idea of "true north" might be what it is about your goal that motivates you; for you to receive 80 rejection letters in a year, I think "true north" is creative daring with your writing, and following through - so, hard work and improving your craft; for someone who desires to write something that gets nominated for Yuletide, their "true north" might be recognition within their community and/or to give something back to a fan community that nourished them as a writer; the person who wants to make enough writing to quit their day job might find their "true north" in prestige - you've gotta be doing really well and be pretty well known to make a livable amount of money on writing.

I'm not sure what my "true north" would be… I'll have to go back and actually do this week's tasks. (Oops.)