Let's break those down.
- Clear. Be specific. Don't say, "I want to become a famous writer in 2010." Instead, tell yourself exactly what you want to do. "I will write 2000 words of fiction a week," or maybe, "I will start sending chapters of my fantasy novel to my betas on June 1."
- Challenging. Is it pretty easy for you to write 2000 words a week? Then make your goal 2500. Stretch yourself. Do more, commit more, work those creative muscles. Not a lot more...just some more. Improve yourself and your writing.
- Achievable. Don't set yourself up for failure; make your goals things you can achieve if you work at it. Nothing's more discouraging than saying, "I'm going to write The Great American Novel," then letting day after day slide by with nothing done. You can't write The Great American Novel (what is that, anyway?), but you can fill up this page, or complete this scene. It feels great when you do, and it leads you to want to write even more.
- Well-defined. This is a lot like clear, but more concerned with details. How are you going to write 2000 words a week? When are you going to write those chapters to send to beta? It might be something like, "I will write for 2 uninterrupted hours on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons," or "I will write and mail a query letter every Friday morning."
If you're interested, here are mine:
- Freelance earnings. I will make at least $2000 per month from January - April, at least $3000 from May - August, and at least $4000 from September - December.
- Freelance writing. I will have at least 13 queries in circulation all the time. At the moment, I have 3, so I need to build up to this one. Also, will have my website up and running (that's actually a goal for this week, not this year!).
- Fiction writing. I will write at least 2000 words a week. I will complete at least 1 of the 4 fiction books I am working on. I will have something to send to beta on June 1.
- Blogging. My blogs will earn money! Still working on the specifics of this, but if you see ads, you might click them!
I guess that's enough to be going on with. So now, I really want to know, what are your writing goals for 2010? Please let us know, and remember, we're here to help you achieve them.
I love your goals! I wrote up a slew of my own, and added something different this year: a mission statement. I think it's important to know why you are writing, as well as what specific goals you want to achieve in the near term. For some, they simply want to write. Others crave awards or publication. Still others will only be happy if they are Bestselling Authors. These goals aren't mutually exclusive, but I think it's vital to know what is important to you in any endeavor.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking I should probably have posted this on my OWN blog ( www.ink-spells.blogspot.com) first, but here goes:
To leverage my rich background in science, engineering, politics and life, to create compelling stories and characters that pose moral questions to young readers and make them think. To have every story be an improvement in craft. To be a leader and member of a supportive writing community, through blogs, critiques, and social networking. To create a body of work, including novels and short stories, accessible to young readers, to reach the largest number of readers to provide the greatest impact on young lives.
That's wonderful. You phrased yours more in terms of the values you hold around writing. That's probably something I should have talked about more in my post, so I'm really glad you brought it up. Happy new year!
ReplyDeleteMy WIP is pretty big, but my goal is to get more than halfway through it. I've been working on it for a while, but I need to press ahead. Looking forward to the new year!
ReplyDeleteThat's an awesome, specific, do-able goal. Congrats. I am sure you'll do great. Let us know how it's going, okay?
ReplyDeleteMine is to finalize/polish/bind the script I was working on LAST year by the end of April, and to have 50 pages of new script drafted by the end of THIS year. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! Do you want me to send you scripting/screenwriting jobs if I come across them?
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