There’s a way to set writing goals that works, and also a way that sets you up for failure. This author has some tips for setting goals you can achieve.

by Roger Leslie

Some people who dream of being writers (but don’t write now) imagine renting a secluded cabin for a week to write a book. That’s like never exercising but expecting one day to run the Boston marathon on a whim. Creative muscles are like physical muscles. When you first use them, you may be sore. Initiating a cycle of consistent progress may require sometimes forcing yourself to write, even if you don’t feel like it. Eventually, you build your creative muscles and develop success-generating habits that make you hungry to get back to your writing desk.

You know you’re a writer when you must write in order to feel productive and fulfilled.

Whether you’re still only dreaming about writing your first book or you’re already a seasoned author, goal setting is a dynamic tool for generating success now.

First, distinguish between objectives and goals. Your objective is the end result you’re imagining. That objective usually holds an emotional charge. Your objective to become a New York Times–bestselling author might be charged by the excitement, self-worth, and power you anticipate feeling when you see your book title and byline at #1 in the New York Times. You’ll only reach the objective of finding your book at the top of that list if you achieve the goals of having written, edited, and revised a book, then getting it published, reviewed, marketed, and promoted.

Your objective is the large, looming, often lifelong dream at the mountaintop. Goals are the concrete steps you’ll take to reach that peak incrementally. Objectives can be elusive and very exciting. Goals should be manageable and immediate. Writing goals transform you from dreaming of becoming an author to proving you are already an actively working author.

Objectives can be elusive and very exciting. Goals should be manageable and immediate.

To develop writing routines, start with a time-limit goal. Look at your current life commitments (to family, to career, to self-care) and determine what would be a realistic amount of time to add one more task to your weekly routines. I say weekly because achievable goals are specific and flexible.

DEFEATING GOAL:
I will write for one hour every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

While this goal is specific, it isn’t flexible. If on Wednesday your child gets sick or your boss calls an emergency meeting that lasts through your writing time, you have failed. Failure creates discouragement, and discouragement can lead to abandoning goals altogether.

ENCOURAGING GOAL:
I will write at least three hours every week.

This goal is both specific and flexible. Committing to three hours allows you the entire week to deliver on the promise to yourself to write. Before pursuing the goal, look at your calendar and determine when you plan to get that writing done. You may plan to write one hour Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. But if anything interrupts your plan of action, you have other days in the week to succeed. Adding “at least” invites you to do more than the designated amount, which will promote your creative growth and help you finish your book faster.

Fulfilling your weekly promises to yourself builds self-trust. You make a commitment, and you stick to it. That, in turn, lends itself to increasing your confidence to set more ambitious goals and ultimately reach your overarching objective.

Full-time authors are better served by setting a word-limit goal. After all, if writing is your career, you can be in your office doing something for your writing career all forty hours of your work week and still not get the results you want, such as being prolific, or mastering a new genre, or selling 100,000 copies of your latest book. Be realistic, but dare to stretch.

If you set a goal to write 5,000 words per week, you could plan to write at least 1,000 words each workday. For most experienced writers, that’s a manageable goal you’re likely to exceed quickly. Even with that minimal goal, you would reach 60,000 words (a common benchmark for a complete book) in only three months.

Be flexible. Some days you may get on such a roll you write most of those 5,000 words in one sitting. Other days your creativity might not be surging. If one Monday you write only 400 words, you can revise your plan of action to write 1,150 words each of the next four days. If you’re in the habit of generating 1,000 words per day, adding only 150 more for the remaining days that week would be a manageable stretch.

Once your writing career really takes off, you’ll need to work in many responsibilities beyond writing your manuscripts. Even with an agent, a publicist, and other support staff, you will need to make time for book tours, virtual interviews, and other publishing business. In time, you will likely be writing multiple books at different stages in a single week. How do you keep up? You set realistic goals for not only your writing, but also for the business related to writing.

Keep your objective. That’s your dream. To reach it, set goals. They’re the steps that will make that dream your reality.

Roger Leslie, PhD, has published books in multiple genres, including historical fiction, inspirational self-help, spirituality, and writing and publishing. He’s won numerous national awards, including ForeWord Book of the Year, The Ben Franklin Award, and Writer’s Digest‘s #1 Inspirational Book of the Year. He is also a sought-after speaker for his lively, entertaining keynotes in which he entertains, inspires, and empowers people to live the life they dream and soar toward their own ideal of success.

Learn more about Roger at his website.