Setting realistic Writing Goals
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Writing a book is an accomplishment that’s often—no, usually—a difficult achievement. Even if you are a full-time, previously published writer, you need a plan. You need to set goals: daily ones, weekly ones, monthly ones, and yearly ones to successfully keep you on track from the beginning draft through revision to the final proofread. Without these goals, you will write, but not likely finish any project.
Goals help you figure out what project you really want to work on, then how to create the plan that will bring you to and across the finish line and. Without set goals—whether small or large, short- or long-term—you will likely lose your focus. And you will definitely lose track of time. And if that occurs, you won’t finish the book you have been dreaming of writing. Writing a book, fiction or nonfiction, requires an overall plan and all the steps required for you to type The End.
You want smart goals. You want specific goals and you want realistic goals. For example: When will you write? For how many hours—or instead of a time goal, what will be your daily word count? Knowing the answers to these questions and being absolutely honest about what you can take on make the whole process manageable and more doable.
Here are a few tips I have found have worked for me:
What are you looking to achieve? This will determine what types of goals you need to set for yourself. Be specific, detailed. Simply stating and setting a goal of writing is not enough. Do you want to write for magazines? Do you want to write flash fiction, short stories, or a novel? Are you looking to start a podcast? Create and run writing workshops? Support your writing by getting editing jobs? Just saying writing covers a huge spectrum.
After you decide what it is you are looking to do, set your goals. Most importantly, be realistic. Setting unachievable goals increases the chances of becoming overwhelmed and then giving up tenfold. You know you the best of anyone, so don’t allow the first flush of passion for a new project because you to push yourself too hard or to set goals you know are unlikely to be realized. Chances are you won’t be able to finish your 100,000-word historical novel set in fourteenth-century Scotland in two months, especially if you are working full time and have a family and friends who expect your attention upon occasion.
Keep track of your progress. How far have you come toward the end goal? It doesn’t matter what you are writing or what your project is, whether it’s a screenplay, a short story, a nonfiction essay, or a 100,000-word novel. If you don’t keep track of how far you have come, you will lose sight of how close you are to completing that first draft. How can you track? An easy way is to use a calendar. Write your goals on each day you plan to write or are working on a writing-related project and cross them off as you move forward. At the end of the first month, you might find something is not working for you. Maybe you realized you are not a morning person and the thought of sitting down at your computer or with paper and pencil at dawn causes your brain to freeze. You might have less time to write each week than you first thought. When you discover these things, it’s a good time to reassess and modify for the next month.
Be accountable. This, to me, is at the top of any list for goal setting, If you are serious about achieving your writing goal, you need to make it a priority. If you don’t, you will find any and every excuse to procrastinate. You will lose focus and motivation, and in the end, your long-term goals will become another memory that never quite happened.
Break your goal into steps. Having a long-term writing goal is great, and breaking that goal down into smaller weekly goals is a good idea. Baby steps are always less overwhelming.
Another effective means of keeping yourself accountable is to determine when and where you will be writing. Will you write every day, or a couple of times a week? How long will your writing sessions be? Are you planning on taking weekends off? These are some excellent questions to contemplate.
During your scheduled writing time—no matter if it’s one hour a week or three hours every day—you should be 100 percent focused during that time to complete your goals.The best method of making certain you are accountable is to have a writing buddy or a group of writing friends you check in with every week, where everyone reports whether they made their goal and if not, why not and how they can make positive changes to meet the goal the following week.
Rewards. I’m a huge believer in rewards, small and large. They are a terrific motivator and one you should absolutely consider. For example: if you write every day you scheduled in a week, you get to buy yourself something small, but nice. Maybe a new notebook, some stickers, new pens. If you reach your goal for a month, the reward should get larger and more fun. Example: Sign up for that writing class you have wanted to take; or maybe it’s a non-writing reward like taking a painting class, going skydiving, or buying that pair of shoes whether they are on sale or not. Come up with something that excites you.
Last but not least, don’t give up. You will have down days when you can barely form a word that pushes your story forward in any way. Or maybe you’ll decide halfway through that the story is crap and you have no talent. Kick that evil self-critic to the curb and take a break, a pause, a breath. Go for a walk, or listen to a podcast that features your favorite author. Or put your work away until the next day. Then reset and come back fresh. Don’t give up.
As writer Nora Roberts said: “I can fix a bad page. I can’t fix a blank one.”
Happy writing!