Not Just Another Goal Post
First of all, my apologies for being late. I had a fight with a flight of stairs and lost. I’m okay, but ended up pretty sore and with a slight concussion that kept me out of commission for a while.
My original plan was to write about goals – how to find your goals, setting goals, how to successfully accomplish them. However, after I started writing the post I realized you could probably find a thousand posts on the topic. Why did you need one more? I know, I know. You don’t. (I could play on the "goal post" double meaning and write about football. Okay, I'll save that one for later.)
Instead of just another "new year, new me, set goals" post, I’m going to tell you one of my goals, as well as my plan to reach and accomplish that goal. Why? Well, my reasoning is two-fold:
1. Maybe it will inspire someone, helping them set a goal, pushing themselves a little further than they thought they could go; and
2. It will help keep me accountable. Putting it in writing – and sharing it with all of you – is kind of like making a contract. I’m announcing that this is what I’m going to do by a certain date. And I’m sure, when that date comes, someone will ask me if I met my goal. I don’t want to disappoint them, or have to give a bunch of reasons why I didn’t meet it.
Last year, I wrote a total of (approximately / rounded to the nearest thousand) 389,000 words. While that seems like a lot, it’s not. (This does not include emails, texts, workshop information/handouts for my writing group, or handwritten letters.) I had hoped to write at least 400K, not as an official goal, but just one I had kept in the back of my mind. And that’s why I think I didn’t achieve it.
For 2017 I have a goal and a plan. Is it a good plan? I think so. But only time will tell.
My goal this year is to write 550K words. (Don’t laugh ... that’s not nice.) It seems like a lofty goal, but I’ve looked at the numbers and the time needed to accomplished it. I can do it. Here’s my plan:
I (currently) have six books scheduled for release in 2017. My first drafts usually have a 5K over the final word count requirement. Three books will have an average of 30K words, and three will have an average of 40K words. That’s a total of 210K already. During November’s NaNoWriMo, I plan to set my goal at 225K, bringing my total to 435K. That leaves me with 115K to write “unplanned,” or (approximately) 9,600 words per month.
In my project/story idea book, I currently have two series I am working on, as well as three independent titles. I am going to pick one from each category and begin (or finish) plotting and writing those books in 2017 as well. If each book contains a minimum of 40K (which most of my first drafts do), this gives me an additional 120K words to add – bringing my grand total to 555K, which is 5K over my 2017 goal (a nice cushion!).
Setting a goal that is bigger than any I have ever set before makes me push myself, invest a bit more, work a little harder. But isn’t that the only way we’re ever going to see what we’re truly capable of – by testing our limits?
Comfort zones are overrated anyway ...
My original plan was to write about goals – how to find your goals, setting goals, how to successfully accomplish them. However, after I started writing the post I realized you could probably find a thousand posts on the topic. Why did you need one more? I know, I know. You don’t. (I could play on the "goal post" double meaning and write about football. Okay, I'll save that one for later.)
Instead of just another "new year, new me, set goals" post, I’m going to tell you one of my goals, as well as my plan to reach and accomplish that goal. Why? Well, my reasoning is two-fold:
1. Maybe it will inspire someone, helping them set a goal, pushing themselves a little further than they thought they could go; and
2. It will help keep me accountable. Putting it in writing – and sharing it with all of you – is kind of like making a contract. I’m announcing that this is what I’m going to do by a certain date. And I’m sure, when that date comes, someone will ask me if I met my goal. I don’t want to disappoint them, or have to give a bunch of reasons why I didn’t meet it.
Last year, I wrote a total of (approximately / rounded to the nearest thousand) 389,000 words. While that seems like a lot, it’s not. (This does not include emails, texts, workshop information/handouts for my writing group, or handwritten letters.) I had hoped to write at least 400K, not as an official goal, but just one I had kept in the back of my mind. And that’s why I think I didn’t achieve it.
For 2017 I have a goal and a plan. Is it a good plan? I think so. But only time will tell.
My goal this year is to write 550K words. (Don’t laugh ... that’s not nice.) It seems like a lofty goal, but I’ve looked at the numbers and the time needed to accomplished it. I can do it. Here’s my plan:
I (currently) have six books scheduled for release in 2017. My first drafts usually have a 5K over the final word count requirement. Three books will have an average of 30K words, and three will have an average of 40K words. That’s a total of 210K already. During November’s NaNoWriMo, I plan to set my goal at 225K, bringing my total to 435K. That leaves me with 115K to write “unplanned,” or (approximately) 9,600 words per month.
In my project/story idea book, I currently have two series I am working on, as well as three independent titles. I am going to pick one from each category and begin (or finish) plotting and writing those books in 2017 as well. If each book contains a minimum of 40K (which most of my first drafts do), this gives me an additional 120K words to add – bringing my grand total to 555K, which is 5K over my 2017 goal (a nice cushion!).
Setting a goal that is bigger than any I have ever set before makes me push myself, invest a bit more, work a little harder. But isn’t that the only way we’re ever going to see what we’re truly capable of – by testing our limits?
Comfort zones are overrated anyway ...
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