Setting Writing Goals

I've been blogging about how to write in a more literary fashion, though this post is more general.  'Tis the season most people set goals for the next year.  Many of us forget about them soon after, but a goal not written, as they say, is just a dream.  If you write your goals where you can see them and refer to them often, you're more likely to keep them.

A lot of people have heard about SMART goals, goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.  SMART goals can help one achieve many things in life, but they may be particularly useful for writers.  For instance, if you simply want to get around to writing and just never find the time, sit down and write a goal right now, something alone the lines of "I will write poetry every day at 9 am for 30 minutes/5 pages/whatever for the entire year."  This goal specifically names what you'll write, is measurable, achievable (most days), relevant to a poet's career, and time-bound.

Say, you have a pile of writing already but need to edit, as I do.  Then, you may set the goal to edit your short stories for an hour every day at 10 pm for a month or until they are done.  If you need help with editing but don't have a writers' group yet, you may write that you will find a writers' group that works online by the end of the month by researching and talking to fellow writers.  Alternatively, you may set a goal to create your own writers' group by the end of the month then set out a plan to do it.

You may have a pile of writing you have already vetted through a writers' group and have already edited.  You may set goals to create a writers' platform (including a webpage, an email, a blog, a FaceBook page, a Twitter account, and any other social media platforms you can find).  Research how to do that and set a goal.  It's always a good idea for any beginning writer.  Then, you can tell an editor/publisher/agent you have a platform and a following.  In a blog soon, I'll be writing about how I went about doing this.  It would also be a good idea to set SMART goals about actually sending your materials out to agents or publishers as well, something along the lines of "I will send one short story per week out to a publisher."  I will also talk about this process as well.

Whatever your aim, you can focus better, know exactly what your plan is, and follow that plan through SMART or other kinds of goals.  But it's not a goal until you write it down.  Don't overwhelm yourself with too many goals, or you'll just get frustrated and walk away.  Go ahead and set 1-3 right now as a next step to achieving your dreams.