writing goals – 2squarewriting

19 uncommon writing goals to move you forward

Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all is a form of planning.
Gloria Steinem

As December ends and we leave the holiday season behind, our thoughts naturally turn to the new year. Like the two headed Roman god Janus, patron of doorways and transitions, we look forward and back at the same time.

It can be a time of regret for missed opportunities, unwanted challenges faced, and unfulfilled dreams.

It’s also a time to look forward with hope, taking the lessons we’ve learned forward to do better in the new year. Here are 19 uncommon goals to improve your writing. Let’s do the WRITE thing in 2019.

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Write More, Write Better

1. Write a manifesto

Companies write inspiring mission statements to express their aims in a few words. Write out your personal manifesto. What do you believe in when it comes to life and your creative work? What principles guide you? Condense the ideas into a single sentence that captures the essence of your vision. Use it in your bio on Medium, Twitter and your blog.

2. Set a monthly word count and track your output

What gets measured, gets done.

Daily word counts work well for some people but with busy lives sometimes a weekly or monthly target is better. This allows you flexibility to vary the count according to life events and the unexpected.

You might favour a fancy bullet journal, but a cheap desk diary works too if you like analogue records. If a spreadsheet works better for you, use that. The format doesn’t matter, as long as you complete it.

Set aside fifteen minutes each Sunday to record your word count and plan your week. If you’re falling behind, revise your goals. Schedule it in your diary and show up.

3. Finish that project — create a timeline

Unfinished projects derail you in three ways.

You waste time and energy feeling guilty and anxious.
You deprive yourself of the satisfaction of completion.
You deprive the world because it never sees your work.

You know that thing you started but never finished? Its time has come.

Whether it’s a novel or a blog post, pull up the document now. Figure out the minimum needed to complete it. Start writing. Keep going until it’s done. Don’t think, write.

Don’t stop, even if all you write is “blah blah blah and then they were abducted by aliens, The End.”

When you finish, breathe a sigh of relief and hit delete. You never have to look at it again. And you never have to let it drain your mental energy again, unless it is to edit and publish — if you want to.

4. Build or update your website

Everyone who hopes to send work into the world should have their own blog. It’s a place to build your portfolio, to connect with readers and clients, and to express yourself. Having all your work in one place is unwise, unless you own the platform.

If the platform vanishes, your work will vanish with it. By all means publish on Medium or elsewhere, but also have your own site where you can start to build an email list.

Make a free website this year with WordPress or Blogger.
If you have a blog already, refresh it with a new theme. Rewrite your About pages. Ensure you’re collecting emails for your subscriber list.

Read Something Interesting

It is well to read everything of something, and something of everything.
Joseph Brodsky

5. Read a craft book

There’s a number of classic books on the craft of writing. You probably have one unread on the shelf right now. Here’s a list to get you started.

Pick one craft book and read it. Make notes on the new things you learned. Commit to using at least two of them in your next month of writing. It’s not enough to read and understand, you must also apply and assess results.

6. Read one book in a less favoured genre

You know what you like, right? And you avoid what you don’t. But you can learn new skills from different genres. Those skills are transferable to any genre.

Mystery shows how to write foreshadowing and twists. Horror shows how to write suspense. Fantasy shows how to write worldbuilding. And romance shows how to write dialogue.

Pick a book in a genre you never usually choose. Then read like a writer. You might need to read through and then go back to dissect how the writer achieved their aims.

If you could improve in the areas where you are weakest, imagine how much better your writing would be.

7. Sign up for free books

Sign up to Prolific Works or Bookbub and download free new ebooks in a wide range of genres. Classic titles and a selection of other languages are available at Project Gutenberg.

You can experiment with something new, or see what the competition is like in your chosen niche. It might give you ideas.

If you like a book, leave a review. That’s the best way to support a fellow writer, apart from buying their books.

8. Choose new authors on Medium and elsewhere

We live in an age of algorithms and filtered results tailored to our preferences. You can end up in an echo chamber where everyone holds the same views and no dissenting voices appear. That’s not good for discourse or for empathising with other people.

Instead of clicking on the same few names in your Medium email, try searching the tags you’re interested in. Pick a new author and have a look at their posts. Leave an intelligent comment and vote when you like a piece. You might find a new favourite.

Improve Your Skills

9. Take a course

The knowledge you need is out there. Commit to completing a course this year. Paid options include Udemy and CreativeLive. The latter offers some free to view content.

Free content is available as a signup bonus for some blogs like Jericho Writers as well as formal paid courses.

If you learn better with feedback or with demonstration, taking a course might suit you more than reading a book. Take your professional development seriously.

10. Retreat from the world

Writing retreats vary from simple to luxurious, local to exotic, with price tags to match. The opportunity to focus on writing can jumpstart your project or your mindset.

If you can commit the time, you’re halfway there. A retreat could consist of eight dedicated hours on Saturday with the kids sent to a relative or friend and the phone switched off. Or it could be a Caribbean cruise with well-known writers and cocktails.

Award yourself some time to write.

11. Join a Twitter pitch event

Each year, a number of writers find their agent through Twitter. Events are organised regularly by genre, using hashtags for authors to describe their books. Agents read the pitches and request pages, and some authors get signed.

Condensing your book into a 140 or 280 character pitch requires discipline and economy. The same skills are needed for writing blurbs and synopses. If you can’t condense it, maybe your story isn’t ready for an agent. Find tips and advice on winning twitter pitch events here.

12. Make an ebook for download

Ebooks are often used as incentives to sign up for an email list, and it’s good to offer your new readers something valuable in return for their time.

Include your best blog posts, or new stories not published elsewhere. Having your own mini book is another signal that you take yourself seriously as an author.

Use free resources from Canva or LucidPress to make professional looking booklets with ease. Then link it to your sign-up form using a mail program like Mailchimp or Convertkit.

There’s an undeniable sense of achievement in saying “I made that.”

Talk and Connect

13. Leave a meaningful review or comment

Be the change you want to see in the world.
(source)

You want people to read and engage with your words. Commit to doing this for another author at least once a week. Leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Reviews are hard to get and vital to a book’s success.

Write a comment that goes beyond ‘good job’ and shows how the words impacted you. Claps and reads and votes are marvellous, but a thoughtful comment is gold. And you can start a conversation that becomes a real relationship, without having to make small talk or even get dressed.

14. Join a group — genre or other

Writing is solitary and people in real life don’t get it. Join a group of people who do. Facebook has hundreds of groups organised by genre, gender, location, and philosophy of writing.

Look at 100 best websites for writers for more ideas. Google writing group+genre. Lurk around the group for a while and see what suits you.

Conversely, if you have more than ten group memberships it might be time to cull those you’re not active in and focus on fewer.

A real-life writing group is well worth considering, even if they have their drawbacks.

15. Attend a Conference

Writing conferences happen throughout the year and all over the world. Most offer workshops, sometimes with well-known authors, and the opportunity to meet agents and others in the publishing world. You can practice your pitch and chat with other writers. Self-publishing is also covered.

Cost will determine your choices here. Weekend events sometimes allow day visitors, which reduces costs of accommodation and catering.

16. Attend an author event

Attend a book signing or reading that’s local to you. Ask Google, or your local bookshop or library might have a calendar of events.

Have a sensible question for the author, but don’t monopolise the conversation or make it all about your book.

Like number 13, this is about good karma and being supportive, as well as learning by observation. Make good connections, because one day it could be your turn.

Expand Your Horizons

17. Enter competitions

This year enter at least three contests. Many writing contests are free. You can search for competitions all over the world, dedicated to every kind of writer and writing. Writer’s Digest and Writing Magazine publish annual and monthly calendars of upcoming contests.

More contests and events can be found at blogs by Free Writing Events and Erica Verrillo among others.

Entering a contest sets a deadline, which encourages you to finish your piece. You might have to write to a prompt or theme. And if you win, it will take your self-confidence to the next level as well as giving you bragging rights for your bio — and hopefully some cash too.

18. Milestone rewards for writing goals

Celebrate your successes and remind yourself how far you’ve come. Set some goals with a time limit, and write them out. You’re going to attach a reward to each milestone such as number of blog posts, finishing a project, hitting your monthly word count or whatever.

This reward will be something meaningful to you. Getting your 100th follower might mean more than hitting a word count, so let the rewards show that.

Big milestones deserve big celebrations. You got an agent? Finished your 120K epic saga? Wrote for 100 days without a break? Take a bow, choose a prize.

This is when your writing group gives another benefit — having people to celebrate with you. Don’t look for credit where you know it won’t be given, that’s just self-sabotage.
Be happy for yourself.

19. Publish a book

The joy of self-publishing is that it gives you total control. There is no gatekeeper. You can write and publish a book with your name on it this year — if you want.

Like many things in life, the most successful authors are not necessarily the most visible. There are independent authors making millions, others following a hybrid self and trad publishing path, and others just thrilled to hold their own book in their hands. It’s not all about money.

Collect your best blog posts and add 25% new material. Collect your short stories or poetry by theme. Polish up your novella.

If this seems like an impossible stretch target, remember everything that exists was once no more than a passing thought.

Think of yourself as a published author. Then act like a published author. Ignore the disparaging comment “self-pub isn’t real publishing.” It is real, and if you’re going to be the next Kindle millionaire you’d better get started.

Putting the 20 into 2019

Most of us have heard of the power of affirmations. And most of us don’t really believe that repeating positive phrases will change our reality.

But we’re mistaken.

Thinking things into being is what creatives do.

So I challenge you to take your wildest, most precious, most secret wish for your creative life. Write it down, for your eyes only, on real paper. Tell it like it’s already real; say I am… or I have…

Now choose a physical object to symbolise your wish.

It could be a talisman like a crystal or a lucky pen. Maybe you’ll roll up your wish on a tiny scrap of paper and hide it in a locket.

Hold your wish in your hand once a week. Say it out loud.

Dream first, because that’s where everything real begins.

Then get working to make it come true.

When you do the things in the present that you can see, you are shaping the future that you are yet to see.
Idowu Koyenikan

Good luck with your writing goals in the coming year.

blog, creative writing, Pat Aitcheson writes, writing process

How To Keep Writing When You Have No Fans Or Money For Your Work

7th December 20186th December 2018 pataitcheson22

Are you tired of giving away your best work and seeing no return?

You’ve taken the advice of experts who say they’ve cracked the code.

It’s simple. People don’t buy from strangers, so you need to build a following. Show up consistently with great content at no cost and earn the right to offer a paid product. Frame it as service, sharing your gifts with the world, or whatever else. The expert’s smiling profile picture beckons you. It can be done and they’re the living proof.

So you work and put your words out there, and you start to see results. You get more reads and votes. Then the excitement of those early gains fades. You’re still working, but not breaking through. You work harder to produce better stuff but it doesn’t translate into bigger returns.

You’re shouting into the void.

You begin to question yourself.

How far are you along the road to success?

How much more effort do you have to put in before it bears real fruit?

Are you on the edge of a breakthrough, or should you cut your losses?

You Don’t Know How To Think About Art

Most professions have a defined path. You study certain subjects at school, get a degree, then pass further qualifications. That’s how I became a doctor. Attaining defined milestones guaranteed success. I proved myself and the world recognised my achievement.

The artist’s way is different. Each creative person brings a unique set of skills and desires to their career and there is no one true way to achieve their goals. There is no map. There is no prescribed skill set or summative assessment. There is no definitive endpoint to say you’ve made it.

How can you continue to work under those conditions?

The issue is not lack of commitment. It’s a lack of certainty. The artist must commit to the work knowing that the outcome is uncertain. Progress in art is not measured by simple metrics.

Progress is hard to measure in any creative endeavor, I think. It’s often a matter of instinct, of feeling your way through what works and what doesn’t.
Kate DiCamillo

A professional attains a required standard and then uses their skills to make a difference. An artist makes a difference by practising their art and sharing it. There may be different notions of what makes good art, but the artist must create and share in any case.

Embracing the essential uncertainty of the path and committing to making a difference despite the uncertainty is the keystone of the artist’s mindset. Without that acceptance, you will falter and fail. Creating something new entails taking risks and leaving the known behind. You must be willing to sacrifice some security in exchange for novelty.

Even though the artist’s path is variable, undefined and badly lit, many people have walked their own version. I believe it’s possible to find a way through.

Do Just One Thing To Guarantee Failure

You’ve already done so much, and you’re sick of it. A hundred posts, a hundred rejections, ten thousand hours, you’ve done it all.

But remember that everyone, no matter how successful now, started at zero. Zero followers, reads or votes. Zero book sales and earnings. If you are past zero on any measure then you are already succeeding at some level. Give yourself some credit, and keep going.

When you look at the successful people in your field, remember survivorship bias. Their results look better because the failures have left the field. You don’t know what combination of hard work, talent, and blind luck got them to their current position.

What you should know is that by continuing to show up, you increase your chances of being in that group of survivors. When others give in to their doubts, put your head down and keep going.

Success lies along an exponential curve. If you put in the work and practise deliberately, you’ll move along that curve until you reach the tipping point.

source

Two things predict arrival at the tipping point:

Sufficient effort
Sustained effort

You have to do the work and there is no shortcut. That means writing while implementing all the advice you’ve read, not just continuing to write the same way without implementing new techniques. That’s not real practice and doesn’t count toward the tipping point at all. Many writers don’t understand this. Act on advice so that you improve, and keep going.

If you stop before the tipping point, the rock rolls back down the hill. You’ll be crushed by the process and much less likely to try again. Go on without stopping until it starts to feel easier, and then keep going.

Only failures quit.

Stop Chasing Unicorns

Comparison is the thief of joy.
Theodore Roosevelt

Every industry and creative endeavour has its rock stars. They are the titans whose success dwarfs all others. Each has such a massive audience that acclaim is almost guaranteed, whatever they produce.

You might notice that their later output isn’t actually stellar quality. No matter. They’re at the far end of the curve, and now receive high rewards for less effort. Their situation is the reverse of yours.

None of that matters to you.

They struggled in the beginning and stayed the course to make it. And the environment in which they succeeded is not like yours, because time has passed and everything changes. Their past success has nothing to do with your future success and does not prevent you from seeking it.

Stop reading them and indulging in self-flagellation or angry rants about their content. This is the embodiment of drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. It hurts you and only you.

Compare yourself only to past you. Are you moving in the right direction? Don’t chase unicorns, chase your future.

Serve Your People Better

“I haven’t got an audience,” you say. But you’re here and I guess you have a few followers or readers. The number isn’t big enough for you yet, but it’s not zero.

So what are you doing for those people? Are you like those annoying corporations who woo new customers with all their best offers and leave their existing customers in the cold? You’re so focused on the people who don’t know you that you turned your back on those who do.

Some people are watching. Some people have shown interest and faith in your work. Think of them as individuals, which is what they are. What are their needs, fears, and dreams?

Then ask yourself how you can meet their needs, nurture their dreams, inform and support and entertain. You’re here to serve in some way, so dive deeper. Give your fans 100% of your effort and knowledge and insight.

Discover the problems your actual audience has right now, and offer solutions.

An Inconvenient Truth

When you’re used to putting in the work and seeing direct results, this is a particularly hard pill to swallow. The action ⇢ result switch appears to be broken because you acted but nothing happened.

This is true — but only in the short term. If you continue and keep faith in the process, you’ll find that what you’re seeing is not failure, but delayed success. Keep going.

Time For A Reality Check

I know you want to give up because I want to stop too. The things I want seem too far away, and my efforts are too small to make a difference. I’m tired.

At this point, you need to remind yourself of your effectiveness. When you feel useless, it bleeds out into a generalised despair. But you’re not a total failure. You’ve succeeded at many things already both large and small. You’ve survived life so far.

I had a professional mentor once who I found almost impossible to work with. I needed the six-month placement to complete my training. Most of my days were spent just surviving because you can tolerate any job for six months, right?

I barely made it.

Almost nothing of what he tried to teach me remains, except this. He advised me to keep a compliments file. Since it was inevitable that someone would complain about my work, and I would feel bad about myself, the compliments file provided a reality check.

You feel like you’re useless and everybody hates you. But other people enjoy and are grateful for your work. Print out those comments and emails. Keep them in an actual file that you can see and feel. Person A felt your words helped them. Person B found your advice useful. Person C loved your way with words.

Recall your life successes, whether it’s a diploma awarded or a joke well told. Balance your negative with all the positive you can muster. Go find your nice comment, print it out so it’s tangible, and look at it to remind yourself you’ve won before, and you can win again.

You Can Conquer The Swamp of Suck On Your Path To Greatness

You’ll always have good and bad days. Know yourself and your triggers to navigate your downswings more easily. When you feel better again, think about how you got there and what you need to avoid or mitigate the trigger.

Cherish positive comments and hoard them for encouragement in difficult times.

Every win is a treasure. Track them, acknowledge them, be grateful for them.

Celebrate when you reach a milestone. Don’t just shrug it off and look at the next goal. Attach a treat to each milestone because the top of the mountain is a long way off. Even those who conquer Everest make camp along the way.

List your goals and write a reward next to each one. The only rules are

the reward must be within your power to give and
the reward must make you smile.

Do it now.

Your Engine Is Inside The Car

We quickly adjust to new situations, whether it’s more money, a bigger car, or the next thousand followers. These things lose their ability to motivate us and we say familiarity breeds contempt.

Extrinsic motivators like metrics and fame work for a while to pull you along. But if you don’t have them yet — and even when you do — you need intrinsic motivation. This is your engine. The small voice that won’t be silenced, that says after all this struggle you are still gonna write anyway and be damned because not writing is even worse than writing without immediate reward.

It is the combination of reasonable talent and the ability to keep going in the face of defeat that leads to success.
Martin Seligman

So go forward, and write anyway. What else are you going to do? Take what you have, and keep going. I’ll see you there.

Have a comment or question? Drop it below and start the conversation.

Tag: writing goals

19 Ideas to Make 2019 Your Best Writing Year Ever