Sunday, February 14, 2010

Setting Short Term Goals

It's pretty easy to come up with long term goals. It's simple really. I want to be a published author. If I let myself dream, I want an agent who can't wait to see what I'm working on. I want a deadline to work towards. I want to write like crazy until my most recent WIP (work in progress) is off to the publisher for the last time and then take a month to relax on the beach. In short, I want a writer's life, and all that it entails; even the hard work.

But what are the short term goals that will get me there? On writers forums, you hear about people setting a goal of a certain number of words to write each day, or a number of writing hours a day. You hear them talk about making writing a priority and fitting it inbetween chauffering the kids to Little League and making dinner. But what if you've tried those. What if you need something more, something to really light a fire under you?

Here's what I came up with;

*Get 100 rejections (or a contract) by my birthday, September 20, 2010.
*Read 25 books before my birthday and write a few sentences about what I learned about writing from each.
*Take the writing course, The Two Year Novel (2YN) from Lazette Gifford at Forward Motion http://www.fmwriters.com.

My most recent very short term goal lasts only one week, possibly two. It is designed to just get me writing and submitting, and living the writer's life. Here is what it looks like;

Day One- Write for three hours
Day Two - Write for four hours
Day Three - Write for five hours
Day Four - Write for six hours
Day Five - Write for seven hours
Day Six - Write for eight hours
Day Seven - Write for nine hours

As you can see, I am increasing by one hour each day. Adding this all up, I end up with a 42 hour writing week. I am on day three right now. And I'm sure day seven will be grueling. But I'm writing and that's the point. And I can do anything for just seven days, right? I told my daughter my plan and she encouraged me to do a second week where the hours of writing decend. Right now, I am concentrating on this current week. I'll decide on a second week when I get there, but it sounds like a great idea.

So what are your short term goals? How did you come up with them?

Write Now - Because it's later than you think. ~Karen

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