How come we have to worry about setting goals? Most aspiring writers usually put this aside as they feel that they have the right skills and resources to become successful in the profession.
Several writers do not even believe in goals and say that it's all about the journey. This could be partly true, that is why it is encouraged to develop a lifestyle of writing, rather than just sit back for a month and create a novel. Nevertheless, goals are certainly essential for various reasons.
Clarification: have you worked out exactly what you want to achieve by writing? Is it just to maintain an up-to-date and much followed blog? Or is part of the goal to get a novel traditionally published? Is it to get a book published twice a year? Or win awards and contests? Do you want to be listed as a 'Best Selling Author'? Because all of these require you to work in slightly different ways, and in the end if you haven't specifically stated what you want you might get to the end of the journey and find you have been traveling on the wrong path.
Achievement: There's always more writing to be done. Always more words that can be said, always more time you may be etching out of your life. Short-term goals let you say 'enough is enough' for one day. It is a wonderful thing, having reached your goal number of words (or whatever) and being in the position to go off guilt free and see a movie. You can't underestimate the difference to your quality of life this will make. Then mid-term goals will help you stay on target, understanding that you are reaching your long-term goal in the end. Likewise, you'll get reasons to crack open the sparkling wine at certain periods along the way. A complete first draft is not a published book, but it is still pretty damn exciting.
Justification: Knowing exactly where you are going with your writing saves a lot of time at dinner parties, and a lot of mumbling and generally looking for escape routes. After people have asked what you have published upon knowing that you're a writer, (If you can answer this one satisfactorily you are sweet, though the next question will probably come anyway), they generally follow this up with a question about what you are working on now. A small pitch is never out of place here. But eventually, after a few more glasses of wine have been drunk and the prejudice of the employed rises to the top, someone will ask where it is all going. They would probably say that you can't support yourself, or a family, on just one book and eventually ask if you have ever thought of that. At this point, you can look them calmly in their red-shot eyes and reply that you have thought of that, and you are working at a steady and achievable pace to have two books published per year, long with having a passive income from the online articles you produce and the teaching material you have created, thank you very much for asking. This is much preferable to curling up in a whimpering ball with groans addressed to your mother that you didn't want to be a lawyer, until someone kindly hands you a paper bag to breathe into deeply.
Several writers do not even believe in goals and say that it's all about the journey. This could be partly true, that is why it is encouraged to develop a lifestyle of writing, rather than just sit back for a month and create a novel. Nevertheless, goals are certainly essential for various reasons.
Clarification: have you worked out exactly what you want to achieve by writing? Is it just to maintain an up-to-date and much followed blog? Or is part of the goal to get a novel traditionally published? Is it to get a book published twice a year? Or win awards and contests? Do you want to be listed as a 'Best Selling Author'? Because all of these require you to work in slightly different ways, and in the end if you haven't specifically stated what you want you might get to the end of the journey and find you have been traveling on the wrong path.
Achievement: There's always more writing to be done. Always more words that can be said, always more time you may be etching out of your life. Short-term goals let you say 'enough is enough' for one day. It is a wonderful thing, having reached your goal number of words (or whatever) and being in the position to go off guilt free and see a movie. You can't underestimate the difference to your quality of life this will make. Then mid-term goals will help you stay on target, understanding that you are reaching your long-term goal in the end. Likewise, you'll get reasons to crack open the sparkling wine at certain periods along the way. A complete first draft is not a published book, but it is still pretty damn exciting.
Justification: Knowing exactly where you are going with your writing saves a lot of time at dinner parties, and a lot of mumbling and generally looking for escape routes. After people have asked what you have published upon knowing that you're a writer, (If you can answer this one satisfactorily you are sweet, though the next question will probably come anyway), they generally follow this up with a question about what you are working on now. A small pitch is never out of place here. But eventually, after a few more glasses of wine have been drunk and the prejudice of the employed rises to the top, someone will ask where it is all going. They would probably say that you can't support yourself, or a family, on just one book and eventually ask if you have ever thought of that. At this point, you can look them calmly in their red-shot eyes and reply that you have thought of that, and you are working at a steady and achievable pace to have two books published per year, long with having a passive income from the online articles you produce and the teaching material you have created, thank you very much for asking. This is much preferable to curling up in a whimpering ball with groans addressed to your mother that you didn't want to be a lawyer, until someone kindly hands you a paper bag to breathe into deeply.
About the Author:
Learn how to become a prolific writer, see Buffy Greentree's new book The Five Day Writer's Retreat
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