By Jennifer Blanchard
When a marathon is being planned, one of the most important steps in the process is deciding on an end point. Runners need to know how far they have to run and where they will end up when the race is finished.
The same thing goes for your writing.
In order to fully commit to your writing, you first need to know what your goals are.
What are you trying to accomplish?
- Do you want to finish a novel?
- Do you want to start a novel?
- Are you trying to write a screenplay?
- Do you want to start submitting your short stories to literary magazine competitions?
- Are you ready to try publication?
Spend some time really thinking about what you want to achieve with your writing. Here are some steps to get you started:
- Make a List–Write down all the writing goals you want to achieve in your career. Anything goes at this point in the goal-setting process.
- Narrow It Down–Once you’ve written down all your goals, you want to take a look at the list and narrow it down. Which goals are long-term? Which goals can you achieve immediately (such as writing daily)?
- Choose 1 or 2 Goals–It’s easy to get overwhelmed with your writing goals if you try to accomplish too many at once. It’s best to choose 1 or 2 of the goals from your list to achieve first. Once you reach that finish line, then you can choose a couple more goals from your list.
The reason why it’s important to be specific with your goals is so you know exactly what you are working toward. It’s much easier to procrastinate on your writing when you have no idea what your end goal is.
But when you have a clear plan, and a bigger picture in mind, you’ll be more likely to actually sit down and write.
Also, having an end-goal in mind will not only motivate you, but will give you a reason why you should sit down and write every time you feel like procrastinating.
My current wrting goal is to start and finish my second novel. What are your writing goals?
