Tag Archives: Goals

A guest post by Kelli Ann Morgan.

If you are anything like me, you like to take on challenges that will push you to do more—to be more—than you have ever done or been before. Every year, a small group of wonderful writers and I get together to report on our previous year’s goals and to set new ones for the upcoming year over food and lively conversation.

During this year’s event, I set up a list of twenty-three specific goals that I wanted to accomplish throughout this year and placed each one on its own notecard to be displayed on the corkboard above my desk in my office. (Yes, I do realize that twenty-three is an insane number of goals, but I would rather shoot for the stars only to lasso the moon than to shoot for the mailbox and barely make it out my front door.) And believe it or not, my goals are not amongst the craziest of the goals some writers set.

Just like anything, your goals need to be tended. Nurtured even. Summer tends to mark the midpoint of the year and is the perfect time to look over your goals and make any necessary changes to get back on track. I use a simple three-step method I call the Triple R Process: Reevaluating, Reorganizing, and Recommitting to Your Goals. By following the Triple R Process, you will enjoy a more productive and happier year.

REEVALUATE

The first step in the Triple R Process is to reevaluate the goals that you set at the beginning of the year. Tug them down off your office wall or pull out the notebook you have them written in and look at them one by one. You’ve had six months to work on your goals. What worked? What didn’t? Ask yourself if they still fit as goals with SMARTS.

NOTE: When setting my goals at the beginning of the year, I try to keep in mind the familiar SMART method with one exception. Many of your may already know how to set SMART goals and so I will not touch on that—other than to define what SMART stands for. Your goals should be: Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. My exception rule is to include at least one “Shoot for the Stars” goal. Therefore, they are goals with SMARTS. We all need a little latitude for attitude.

Life has a habit of throwing curveballs in your direction and that means goals or ideas that were once applicable or relevant may no longer fit into the overall vision you will now have for your immediate career. It is okay to change your goals. Let me repeat that. IT IS OKAY TO CHANGE YOUR GOALS. In fact, it would be counterproductive if they need to be changed and you do not make adjustments.

Reevaluating your goals and making necessary changes does not mean you have failed. It means that you have enough SMARTS to actively groom yourself and your career in an ever-changing industry. You do need to hold yourself accountable. You do need to work on them every day. You do need to…DO something.

REORGANIZE

The second step in the midpoint Triple R Process is to reorganize the goals that made it through the reevaluation step. You will also reorganize your workspace and your mind to be more positive and forward thinking. This step is very important—especially if you have more than one goal you are trying to accomplish. Learning how to prioritize your goals based on your experience over the last six months and understanding how to modify your approach to them is vital to your success. Take the time to make the necessary preparations to be successful. You may have learned that there is more, or a different type, of groundwork needed to be successful in one goal or another.

Next, make a schedule. This does not have to be a detailed, down-to-the-minute schedule, but a basic idea of what you will accomplish on any given day or in what month you will work on a or complete a specific goal. Reorganizing your goals will help you discover where your priorities lie. Reorganizing is different for everyone. Make a chart, goal cards, or some type of visual that you can display in a prominent place in your workspace as a reminder of what you are trying to accomplish. These reminders will help you keep focused on days things aren’t going so well.

RECOMMIT

The third and final step in the Triple R Process is to recommit to the goals that have made it through the reevaluation and reorganization steps. Remember, it’s all about the big picture. 2+2 does not equal 3 no matter how creative you get. Every goal should fit into your master plan and if you want your plan to be a success, you must commit to the goals that will get you there. Believe in the goals that you set. Know your limitations and strive to understand your strengths. Use them to recommit to the big picture.

Work doesn’t have to be miserable. Right now is an AMAZING time to be a writer with many opportunities both here and on the horizon. Whether you are just starting out, a seasoned best-selling author, or somewhere in between, the need to commit to your work is the same. Every step of the journey is worth taking if you look for the lessons and take time to appreciate every moment.

Look at your goals and recommit to achieve them. Find someone to report your progress to. Hold yourself accountable, but never give up. The road will not always be easy, but success is also found in the journey not just the destination. Do whatever it takes to do more. Be more.

It may sound like a lot of work, but it is all about perspective. You can achieve great things by starting out small and dreaming big. Shakespeare wrote, “Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” It is up to you. Reevaluate. Reorganize. Recommit. Then celebrate. Celebrate every one of your successes—great or small. You deserve it. Take the time to use my Triple R Process and watch your dreams come alive before your eyes. You’ll get out of it what you want to. I’ll see you out among the stars!

Kelli Ann Morgan Bio:

KELLI ANN MORGAN recognized a passion for writing at a very young age and since that time has devoted herself to creativity of all sorts. She also moonlights as a Creative Designer – creating covers and more for other authors- and works as a photographer, jewelry designer, painter, and motivational speaker. Kelli Ann graduated Summa Cum Laude with her degree in Business and is the owner of Inspire Creative Services. She is a long-time member of the Romance Writers of America and was president of her local chapter in 2009. Her love of and talent for writing have opened many doors for her and she continues to look for new and exciting opportunities to teach, inspire, and entertain. Kelli Ann loves to hear from her readers. Visit her at www.kelliannmorgan.com.

The Tricky Art of Goal Setting

June 18, 2014

fictorians

Guest Posts Reflection The Writing Life Writing Tools No Comments

A guest post by James Wharton.

2148. That’s the number of words I wrote yesterday. If I can do that every day for a week—let’s see, that’s 15,036 words. If I do that four weeks in a row, that’s 60,144 words, almost enough for a novel. So there you have it, a short course in how to set goals.

The catch is I neglected to tell you I only wrote 300 words the day before. And the day before that, I produced only 100 or so words. So what is the total word count for the last three days? 2548. That equates to 849 words per day. That’s still a lot, or is it? How many words should I write every day? And, oh by the way, how many will I write today since I have what I refer to as a “work hangover,” a yucky, listless, energy-devoid state from working too hard the previous day. Of course, I must write this article as I committed to a deadline, but usually, one of those “days after” means I will get little to nothing written that day. You see the problem. In four days, I will have written at a rate of 637 words per day. Is that enough?

So what should I have done? How many words should I write a day? How many days a week should I write? How many books per year should I produce? Welcome to the tricky world of goal setting. It is world many of us inhabit. We must complete X-number of tasks by a certain time, get so many sales each month, drive so many miles per day and so on. For most of our lives, we are in some sort of goal-based environment.

Several years ago I participated in NaNoWriMo, the quest to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. I did it. I learned that I could indeed write that many words, but also learned that is not the way I want to write. Yes, it was grueling but fun, and I felt good about hitting the 50,000 word goal, but not so proud of what I produced. I spent the next eight months completely re-writing it. Out of that exercise came The Destiny Project, the novel that is my best-seller.

Depending on who you listen to, it seems that the general consensus is that 1500 words a day is a respectable amount. Of course that comes with a ton of provisos. Stephen King may write 15,000 words a day or more for all I know. John Banville, one of my favorite authors, says he writes 1500 words per day on his Benjamin Black series, however, not nearly as many on his regular novels. If you’ve ever read a Banville novel, you know better than to sit down and get comfortable without a dictionary at your side. His regular novels are truly works of art and I can’t imagine Banville crafting such a book without many hours laboring over the dictionary and thesaurus. I have no idea how many words per day he grinds out on one those masterpieces, but I can’t imagine it is more than a few hundred.

Stephen King seems to have the ability to write spontaneously without the need for a lot of re-writes, but in view of his mammoth size books, I can’t believe he works anywhere near as hard as I must to produce half or probably even less the number of words he does. And there’s another proviso to the 1500 word per day goal. 1500 words is a gross amount. It’s what you put down before you revise, rewrite, delete paragraphs or pages, etc. etc. Personally, I do a lot of rewrites and revisions. Every time I re-read my draft, I find things I need to change or could have written better. Although my publisher did edit my two published books, I don’t use an editor on my self-published books because of the prohibitive cost. But let me tell you, editing your own work is difficult if not impossible.

The point is, after the revising, rewriting and editing is completed, your net words per day will drop dramatically, perhaps to only a few hundred.

Another proviso is the amount of uninterrupted private time you devote to writing. Writing is a time-intensive, energy demanding, solitary activity. Do you have a space where you write? Do you have a regular time when you write? I am fortunate to have a studio where I can cut off the world and its noises and other interruptions. Whatever you may have available, make it as “private” as possible and write at a regular time on writing days. Interruptions dramatically impact your productivity.

Another proviso is how far along you are in the writing experience. That also impacts your productivity. Your ability and speed will differ substantially if you’ve written fifty thousand words, two hundred and fifty thousand words, or a million words.

When I write a novel, I set my goal at 1500 words per day and 5 days per week. Obviously, from my opening paragraph, I don’t necessarily achieve that goal every day or week. But I consider it a good day if I produce 1500 words that, while still needing revision and editing, are probably solid enough to work as part of the book. That doesn’t mean they absolutely will. I’ve cut complete sections (1500 or more words) many times. It’s not right until it’s right, and you can only hope the reader will feel that way too.

The bottom line is that writing is a creative process and setting an absolute word per day goal, (the best measure of productivity) is probably impossible. That is why goal setting with writing is an art, not a science. So here is what I suggest:

Have a specific place to write-one that is quiet and where you won’t be interrupted for a reasonable span of time. And turn off the cell phone.
Set a daily word per day goal that is reasonable (achievable) for you. Decide how many days a week can you will work? Five days a week may or may not be realistic, but that is the number I use. That goal should be a comfortable number dependent on how well and how fast you write and what you feel works for you. This is a gross number as you will need to revise, rewrite and do a final edit later. The important point is to be faithful to your words per day and work days per week goals. If you don’t reach the words per day goal today, don’t try to do more tomorrow to catch up with your overall five day goal.
Set a time for completion of your overall project. I find that my novels generally take a year to write (Approximately 75,000-85,000 words.) Obviously I don’t achieve a gross word per day goal of 1500 words per day. Life has its interruptions. I began writing The Destiny Project II early last year when my mother became seriously ill. I spent a lot of time visiting her out of state and her illness was so disruptive I couldn’t go on with writing that particular book. (I am again working on it.) However, I began writing another book to fill my idle hours. Out of that came Delirium, my newest novel.

Life and disruptions happen, but always stay focused on achieving your daily and weekly writing goals. Execution is the most important part of goal setting—SO DO IT!!

The main thing about writing is to have as much fun as you can and work at a pace that is comfortable and pleasant. Set your word per day and days per week goals and then a completion date for your project. Above all, adhere to a regular schedule and then judge your performance. How many words did I write this week? My goal was 1,000 words per day at five days per week. Did I write 5,000 gross words this week? Did I write 20,000 gross words this month?

After several months working your established schedule, you will have structure and discipline and be able to predict when your project will be complete–assuming no outside interference.

James Wharton’s Bio:
James Wharton is a full time writer with two published and eight self-published books. His most recent novel, Delirium, was published in February and his coming novel, The Destiny Project II, is due out in the Fall of 2014.

Web site: jameswharton.net

Email: jameswharton1@aol.com

7 Ways to Score with Your Goals

June 13, 2014

Ace Jordyn

Ace Jordyn Craft & Skills Goals Motivation Self-Awareness Self-Motivation The Writing Life No Comments

We all set writing goals, but being able to achieve them means we need to understand how we work and how to make our goals work. Here are seven things I find helpful:

1) dress properly
You don’t wear a winter parks in +40 weather so why would you wear the editor’s hat when creative juices are running high? Stay immersed in your world and tell the story. Story structure, world building issues, exposition issues, line edits – all these ‘imperfections’ should be dealt with in the revision and final editing stages.

2) flip flops or hiking boots?
Do you get a better work out strolling on a beach or hiking up a steep mountain? Or a little of both like setting a large goal of one novel a year with smaller goals of 2,000 words a week? Know what motivates you and know that there is much flexibility in how you reach your goals. For example, you may only be able to write a few hundred words a day but if you set aside a weekend every month or two as a writing weekend, you can more easily reach your goals.

3) befriend change
Life happens. Rethinking a concept happens. Writer’s block happens. We get thrown off our goals and every doubt we ever had about being a writer sets in. So never cower before change. Understand why the change has happened. If it’s writer’s block, perhaps there’s something you haven’t thought through well enough. Sometimes our characters take the story in a different direction and we must rethink it. Illness strikes, work changes, any number of things can happen to throw us off our goal. And as with point #2, you may need to decide if it’s time to wear flip flops or hiking boots for a while. But remember, befriending change isn’t permission to procrastinate because goals, like business plans, are moving targets.

4) become a guru
When you are at your paying job, you aren’t in a position to write your story. Conversely, teach yourself and others that your writing time is a job not to be interrupted. Eliminate distractions like phones, emails and social media. You need to focus and to be in your groove, so become your own guru and facilitate channeling your own creativity. Our brains like routine so find something that works for you: meditate, choose background music that inspires creativity, have a special cup of tea and set a specific time for writing.

5) even a sloth is accomplishes something
We write about life, not directly perhaps, but all we experience and observe is translated into our stories. The themes in our stories are our ruminations about how we see and understand things. When telling a story, we sometimes need to pause and to consciously or subconsciously think through those themes and their implications. Down time can be problem solving time and sometimes, it’s just a need to recharge your batteries for the next burst of creative energy.

6) let your fingers do the talking
Fingers on key board – need we say more? Yes for what happens when the fingers and brain aren’t quite connecting? Try it the old fashioned way for a bit and use a pen and paper. There is something to be said for the older, slower method of writing. The hand and brain connect at a different speed (generally slower) and there something more methodical, more organic about the process. Sometimes when I do this, I write about things unrelated to the story but which, on some level, I needed to say or think about. Free style writing, whether by hand or keyboard, can loosen writing blocks and free up creative energy. But truly, write your story one paragraph at a time, one chapter at a time and soon, you’ll have reached your goal. If you’re not trying, it isn’t happening.

7) go play!
Life happens and we need it to happen. We are complex creatures needing inspiration, family and friends. So make time to play with others – and to do the dishes! Never feel guilty about having to do so unless you let it shamelessly distract you from your goal. Writing time for many of us is a form of play time so embrace it as such. For many of us, writing is play time for our creative spirit. Embrace it. Love it. In doing so, you’ll make those around you understand how important it is for you, the creative artist, to have this time. Your writing goals will be more easily met if your family and your creative spirit in you aren’t neglected.

Permission to play! Now, that sounds like fun!

Go Big or Stay Home

June 9, 2014

Frank Morin

Frank Morin Goals Motivation The Writing Life 3 Comments

The official definition in the Urban Dictionary for “Go Big or Stay Home” is that it is used to goad someone into an outlandish or awesome act.

It’s a challenge phrase.

This month we are checking in on our progress with the goals we set at the beginning of the year. It’s also a great time to reflect on whether or not we set the right goals. Did we choose to do something beyond the normal and really commit to getting it done? Those are the scary goals, the ones we aren’t quite sure we can meet.

Those are the challenge goals, the ones that drive us to accomplish something.

So you set a writing goal or a personal goal this year? Was it a challenge goal, or was it a safety goal, one designed to make an incremental, tiny step forward, using the same stride used in the past? One that let’s us celebrate repainting the same-old situation?

It’s easy to plod along doing the same thing we’ve done before and celebrate minuscule progression, but sometimes the only way to really get where we want to go is to completely change and try something totally different. To challenge ourselves to take the leap we dream of taking but which scares us to death.

For example, when I first started writing seriously, my first novel took way too long, partly because my writing was just awful, but partly because my schedule did not allow much time for writing. So I set the goal to rearrange my working schedule to allow more writing time. It took a few years and some pretty big risks and sacrifices from the entire family to accomplish that goal, but I did it.

This year I realized I was not taking enough advantage of that newfound freedom, so I set a huge goal of completing four new novels this year. Sure I had started outlining them, but did not have any first drafts completed. And yet, that’s what it would take to reach the next level. So I set the goal and began to work it. Last week I wrote 26,000 words to complete one of those novels on time. One piece of the overall goal is complete. Lots more to go.

No matter our individual circumstance, we can all set change goals and decide if we’re going to go big or stay home. Most people don’t bother.

They stay home.

Most people are content to go to work, fill an honest eight hours, and then literally just go home and watch tv. Those people have a safe existence. They do not have to take risks, do not have to stretch and grow, do not risk failure and ridicule. But they also never go big. They never accomplish challenge goals to celebrate incredible victories and learn to take control of their lives.

Of those who decide to make a change, who say they are going to Go Big, most of them don’t make it. Sure, from a writing perspective some people are just so bad that they simply lack the capacity to do it, but those are the exceptions. Most people COULD write a competitive book if they REALLY wanted to, yet most of them fail. It’s not because they CAN’T do it, but because they lack staying power. Like the graph illustrates, saying you have a great idea is nothing. Starting a book is when we first get some skin in the game but doesn’t mean a whole lot either. Actually finishing a book is huge, but even that’s not the ultimate goal. We want to finish something someone else will pay to read. Challenge goals are the vehicle to take us there.

So what if you have to write ten years before you make a sale? Those ten years are going to pass anyway. So what if you get rejected? The best writers rack up dozens, if not hundreds, of rejections. It’s not the rejection that defines success but the overcoming of that rejection and the continued consistency.

I spoke with Brandon Sanderson earlier this year and when I mentioned I had been writing for almost ten years he nodded and said, “Great, then you’re just about ready to break in.”

Before lightning can strike, you have to make yourself the lightning rod.
Before you can be the lucky winner, you have to compete.
Before you can become an overnight success, you have to work for years to prepare yourself and develop the skills to break out big.

Some people just need a push, someone to challenge them to make a change goal. If you’re one of those, the music video by Switchfoot for their song “I Dare you to Move” might help. Check it out here.

So this month as we reflect where we are with our goals and compare that against where we want to be in six months or one year or ten years, let’s ask ourselves, “Am I going big or staying home?”

Go Big.