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My Solo Weekend Writing Retreat at Hotel Finial

Sometimes things just work out.

Last year I told my husband that I wanted to take a solo weekend writing retreat, or a “writecation,” so I could start working on the book that I hope to complete in 2017. I wanted to check myself into a hotel for a weekend and just write.

I considered booking a room at a hotel in Birmingham, but I knew I needed to get away. Otherwise, the demands of family obligations and the lures of social events with friends would be too much of a distraction.

About a month or so after having this conversation with my husband I was contacted by a representative from Hotel Finial in Anniston, Alabama. They offered me a two-night complimentary stay so I could have the writecation I’d dreamed of. But my stay at Hotel Finial exceeded anything I could have ever imagined!

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How to Host a Virtual Summit

Last month I hosted the first See Jane Write Virtual Summit featuring live online Q&A sessions with 8 female writers and bloggers with noteworthy accomplishments to their name. During the summit, attendees learned how to build a tribe to support their blog, books, and other writing projects; how to work with brands as a blogger; how to start a freelance writing career; how to market and build buzz for their blog, book, or brand; how to use writing to discover their authentic selves; the art of personal blogging; how to lead a group book project; and how to use their blog to write and publish their first book.

I decided last fall that I wanted to host a virtual summit but it took me several months to finally pull it off because I kept making excuses. I don’t have the time, I told myself. I don’t have the money, I said. But eventually I looked at myself in the mirror and said, “Javacia, you can either make excuses or make a difference. But you can’t do both.”

So I got to work. Still a journalist at heart, I started by asking myself the 5Ws and H.

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The Freedom of Focus

This girl is focused in February! // Photo by Kristen Stringer

February 1st is here. We’re an entire month into 2017 and, unfortunately, I spent most of January feeling completely overwhelmed. And it was all my own fault!

My 2017 goals, the same goals that in December filled me with anticipation and excitement, in January started to fill me with apprehension and trepidation instead. I made a list of all the tasks I needed to complete to accomplish my January goals but the list was about as long as I am tall! And I knew exactly why. I wasn’t following my own advice, the very advice that I gave the ladies who took my e-course, The #GoalDigger Project.  I wasn’t staying focused.

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Hello 2017

This will be the year I believe in magic.

This will be the year I dream my wildest dreams and wholeheartedly believe that each one of them will come true.

Believing in magic doesn’t mean I will work less. This will be the year I hustle harder than I ever have before. But this year I will accept that sometimes hustle isn’t enough. Sometimes you need magic.

And magic is that place where gumption meets grace.

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3 Things Your Blog Needs in 2017

If you’re new around here you may not know this, but See Jane Write is not my only blog. I also blog at WriteousBabe.com. Sort of.

To say that I am inconsistent with my other blog would be an understatement. This year I’ve only published 25 posts there. I published more posts than that at SeeJaneWrite.net just last month!

You might be tempted to blame my inconsistency on my busy schedule. With managing a business, freelancing, and teaching, how could I successfully maintain two blogs? But honestly, I think time management has little to do with it.

I struggle with consistency with WriteousBabe.com because I lack purpose. With See Jane Write I have a clear mission and a clear audience in mind and this keeps me motivated day after day. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for my other blog.

This is why I believe all bloggers should enter 2017 with specific goals for their blogs. (Sign up for my free online training on goal setting here.)

But that’s not all you need to make 2017 a happy new year for your blog.

Here are the three things you need to make your blog successful in 2017:

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