FOCUS

You might have heard of the saying, 'don't look back, look to the future'? I've certainly always been told never to reflect on the past... but sometimes looking back is exactly what you should do.

Listening to the UKSCRIPTWRITERS PODCAST LIVE on Monday evening I was reminded of how important it is to remember where I have come from.

DANNY STACK and TIM CLAGUE were chatting about feeling down about lack of career progress or being unhappy at the slow progress of certain projects and how as a writer you shouldn't focus on negative things like this. Instead, they advocated looking back at previous achievements to see how far you had come and using that as a measure of your success.

A few weeks ago I had a minor setback and to be honest it hurt. I moped about it for a few hours and questioned why that particular project wasn't going forward as I thought it deserved. But after listening to Danny and Tim I took a retrospective view of the last twelve months and realised that despite the occasional setback it's been a fantastic journey full of marvellous opportunities. I've made the last ten of two competitions, placed in the quarter finals and semi-finals of several others, was interviewed for the BBC Doctors shadow scheme, been recommended to two big productions companies and championed by two wonderful writers. One minor setback pales in comparison. It's all a matter of focus.

Sometimes we spend too much time looking forward at our targets, dreams and goals and forget how far we have actually come. Remember the BUZZ JAR? Making note of my achievements is exactly why I keep a Buzz Jar on my desk so I can dip into it when I'm feeling a bit down about my writing and motivate myself to crack on. I looked for it Tuesday morning and found it hiding behind my wi-fi router. I grabbed it and put it dead centre in front of my computer screen so I can see it all the time. I'm determined to not let it slip out of sight again.

If you've had a rejection or things aren't going quite as you planned, have a look back at the last twelve months and how far you have come, how much writing you managed to do, how many competitions you have entered and how many connections you have made. I guarantee you things will look a whole lot brighter.

To hear exactly what the lads said about looking back HERE.
you can listen to Danny and Tim's live podcast

Happy writing!