Writing Goals

Setting writing goals is important to writers. It keeps us on track with our writing careers and helps us stay productive. However, goals may need to be adjusted, especially if they're not working. Writing goals can come in many forms - from writing daily to writing a certain word count daily or weekly to completing a project one at a time from beginning to end. Whatever the goals are, they have to work for you. For example, suppose you set a goal of writing every day, without fail, for a year. At the end of that year, however, you find that while you engaged in writing activities every day, they were more quantitative than qualitative. In other words, they helped you achieve your goal of writing every day but didn't do much to help you complete writing projects. What happened is the goal took precedence over the writing and quality writing time (completing a project) became secondary to quantity writing time (writing something every day). If this goal hasn't worked for you, it's time to adjust it. Maybe daily writing isn't an appropriate goal for you. Maybe weekly goals will work better. Maybe setting periods of time aside for writing every few weeks or so is what will work best for you. Only you can make that decision. The writing gurus can't make it for you. Setting goals is a bold step. Equally bold is having the courage to change goals once they're set without labeling it as a failure. Changing goals is an adjustment for the better and it shows you're being realistic rather than just blindly following a pre-determined path. Let your goals work for you instead of you working for them and you'll be a happier and more productive writer.