Right now, I'm just marking everything down on Microsoft Works Calendar and planning out when I have to complete certain parts of the writing process. This way, I feel like I have to finish it before certain date and can motivate myself to write on a daily basis.
I should set up a calendar like you. I don't have a goal, but I would like to have one. Due dates force me to work.
I set myself a daily writing goal, rather like participating in NaNoWriMo. In this case, I'm shooting for 1000 words a day, and 500 on weekends, when I'm often out later and more tired when I arrive home. It isn't much, but I do work full-time. A couple of hours is what I have to spare.
I don't make a goal, I dislike writing to dealines unless it is for school work. I think that if you are writing to a deadline, your writing is sloppier in a rush to finish it. You may procrastinate until the last week of your dealine, then rush it all to finish. You may push yourself too hard trying to reach this dealine. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, so unless you are writing to meet a school or work dealine, then I wouldn't do it.
I'm of the same mind as Heather. I always procrastinate with school deadlines, so there's no reason to think I wouldn't for my writing, especially if I'm just not in the mood for it like I have been lately. Besides, my teachers are obsessed with our personal goals. Every one of them is constantly giving us writing assignments about our goals, and to be frank, I now want to see that word burn.
I was thinking about this recently. For me, a specific deadline isn't healthy. It produces the most words, but I'm not always sure that they're the best words. Still, I'm chronically lazy, so it's sometimes the only option I have. Recently, I set myself the goal of 5000 words a week. I've found that this is better than a goal of x number of words per day, because then you have more flexibility to write when you're inspired. If I ever write full time, I intend to have a goal of 20 to 40k words per month. I think it's better to have a range to take the pressure off a specific number of words.
I think your goal setting, scarecrow, is an excellent idea. Find what will work the best for you, and then work to meet that goal. It is not that you always accomplish it - it is that strive to get there. Very few people in life who have made it to a level of success make it without goal setting. Not that it is easy! But when you get published, you will have someone else setting goals for you - better if you can get a handle on it now!
For starters, I never, ever set out with the thought, "I'm going to write a story of so many words." I just sit and write the story. Then however many words it turns out to be, so be it. (I'm not writing for publication so word count doesn't matter.) I honestly don't see how I'd be able to operate if I set out with a word count goal like that. And neither do I tell myself, "I'm going to have this story done by such-and-such a date." I just work on it, and when it ends, it ends. Then, I decide on a reasonable amount to write each day. I used to write about 20kb (which I guess came out to around 3400-4000 words) a day, but this began to strain me so I settled on half that, 10kb (1700-2000 words a day). And even if I feel like I can write more, I don't, so it leaves me a good place to pick up from tomorrow. When I used to write more, and would write until I ran out of stuff to say for the day, I would find myself at a loss for words the next day so limiting myself works better. I do not note things down on a calendar or any such. I just do the writing. The story unfolds as it will. Like I said I guess this isn't realistic if one is looking to get published or is on a deadline, but if one isn't published YET, and doesn't really have a deadline yet, I think it could be reasonable. But that's just me. If I were to set a total word count it would be too restricting, and a deadline for a story when I have no clue how long it will even be, that would make me resentful of the story for taking up my time. It's better for me this way. *shrug*
The calendar is definately reminding me. Darn thing beeps everytime I log on and a little window pops up telling me to write. I did the same thing on my cellphone. Now it beeps every time I turn it on and reminds me on the homescreen.
Whereas for me, it's the only way I get anything done. I am fantastically, amazingly, superlatively lazy, and so easily distracted that I can fill up three or four hours without any effort at all. (Reading interesting articles, playing Magic online, browsing webcomics, farting around on roleplaying sites.) I have to keep to a strict schedule. If I allow myself 5000/week instead of 1000/day, then I will leave the whole thing until Sunday night at about ten PM, and will find myself so overwhelmed that I barely scratch out a few hundred before giving up in despair, and then shrugging because it's not a "real" problem, and then not writing anything for two or three weeks because of lingering shame. I know me, and I know what I do with freedom. (Goof off, specifically.)
I find I write best when I just make it my daily goal to write a certain number of hours per day. At the end of that time, I may have a couple of finished chapters or I might wind up with just a few pages. I used to set page number or word count goals, but then I found myself just writing a lot of crap to fill up space so I could make my five pages per day or whatever. Also, the quality often suffers with a rush job. Edit: I am in favor of setting some sort of deadline by which the story needs to be done. It gives me the motivation not to skip out on days when I'm feeling lazy.
What goals do you hope to achieve with your writing career? Try to be specific if you can. Do you hope to make an actual career out of this? Thanks.
My goal is to make enough money at it to be able to quit my 'day job' and write full-time - preferably in a cottage overlooking the Irish Sea or, if the spirit moves me, to head to a little apartment in St. Petersburg (No. Not Florida!). And, then, when I get homesick, I want to be able to travel on back to the homeland for a spell to visit with family and friends before heading for my personal retreat once more. I want to be able to sleep until ten. have a leisurely mid-morning brunch. Work on my writing until dinner. Have a nice dinner prepared by my exceptional maid, chef, (depending on my level of success at the given time.) Then I can write for a few more hours, go running or cycling for a while, take a bath or shower and go out with friends at least 3 times a week. I want to be able to make such a living that I will have a substantial estate so my kids and grandkids will be able to go to college without having to worry about how to pay for it. I want to be sufficiently well-known as a writer that, when I walk into a party, even strangers will recognize me, but not so well-known that I am constantly accosted on the street. I want to be comfortably well-off so that I never have to juggle paying which utility bills this month. I want to be able to pay off my mortgage in half the time, give the house to my son, and then take up my residence in my ancestral home. And then, I want to 'live happily ever after'. (Specific enough for ya?)
Remember, you're never to young to start working towards a career. My first gig was when I was 15 and writing for Gamers Hell at 50 dollars a review (got to keep the game too). Had to fake an ID, but even got a press pass to E3, which was a pretty big event. Later on that past experience helped me work with the Icelandic Developer CCP to promote the fiction in their Eve Online series. Was even invited down to Iceland for an in-house test and release party. I wasn't more than 16 or 17. Being published on the internet used to be something different, now with blogs and such many writers are overlooked simply because the whole is just too vast. Journalism is dying, and it's a pity because I determined early in life that I would never make money as a serial novelist and that the press was the only thing left that offered writers a safe haven. To young writers especially: Never forget to live and understand your roots. You'll forever be reminded of them, and you'll learn to jive with this philosophy deeper and deeper the older you get. With my first book, which I'm working on now, I've set a lot of specific goals in feelings and ideals that I want to attach. My objective isn't simply to entertain people, but to confront their faith, their fears and their dreams. We're not talking about radically altering people's perception of things, since that only works (as the old quote mentions) on the people who's minds are already ready to be changed. But that intensity in emotion keeps your work pretty healthy. (Though you may die insane and screaming, "I've put Caiaphas in chains!") Thewordsmith: If we believe in fairy tales then my writing goal is to...**** writing, I want to be a rockstar. Your cottage can suck it.
Aw, c'mon Lettuceman! Even rockstars have to have some quiet place to get away from the rabble. Walked that street for a brief period (actor not musician) and also traveled with musician friends on occasion. It gets a little hectic and, when, on your twentieth night on the road you can't remember if you are in Portland, Maine or Sacramento, California or Jacksonville, Mississippi (or is it Florida?) a little quiet time starts looking pretty good. Y'gotta have an out every now and then, y'know?
i've been a 'serious' writer [as in it's been my one and only 'career'] for over a quarter century and at 71 now, having divested myself of 'self' nearly 15 years ago, i have no goals... the purpose of all of my writings [ever since i swore off writing for money in '95], has been to enlighten its readers [to whatever extent is possible]... it's nice to know it has done that for many...
I suppose it's true. Course you don't get many brilliant authors who are just too drunk and tripped out on shrooms to give their daily lecture at Berkley. But your description is the dream, man.
My goals, in order: -Finish a best-selling novel and get it published. -Earn obscene amounts of money from said best-seller. -Use said wealth to find cures for the frequent writer's block, concentration issues, temporary depressive periods and critically short attention span I suffer from. -With these disabilities out of the way, use improved mental faculties to write all kinds of awesome stuff. -Publish said stuff, earn even more money. -Use said money to find the secret to eternal life. -World domination! (Via awesome writing.) So, yeah, I'm basically Calvin from Calvin & Hobbes. I was also thinking about becoming a humble man with a realistic outlook on life somewhere along the way, but I wasn't sure where to fit that into the rest of my plan.
Right now, my goal is to finish a novel. Nothing spectacular about that. I've started many novels, finished the first draft of a couple but decided to move on, so now I figure if I can at least finish one completely I'll have accomplished something. After that: Get a novel published. After that: Make money writing novels. After that: Live a good life, get married, raise some kids, sit out on the back porch with a good book in my hand and a glass of sweet tea enjoying the sun. That's the dream anyway.
Every letter of every word written is the goal and its fulfillment. I don't really go further than that in my mind; just take it one letter at a time.
Writing career goals? None at all. Writing goals? Plenty. To learn the craft of a writer, working on the language humbly. To be able to achieve clarity, balance and beauty in my texts, as well as good plots etc.
I have been writing here and there, as the mood strikes. I want to make it a habitual thing, though, and I'm not sure what my goals should be. I tend to use goals pretty rigidly, but without them, I'm not sure how to get myself to sit down and do it daily. Some examples: Do I shoot for a word count or a time limit? I have kids, and generally can't prevent them from interrupting-how do I fight the frustration from that? (For example, half way through the last sentence, my 3 year old asked about the time and plans. No problem for a forum post, but while writing a story, it's distracting.) Any advice is welcome.
I can relate to the frustration when you're trying to write and one of your kids interrupts you. Right now I have next to no time for writing because of my 16 month old toddler. I also have a 6 year old, but she's self sufficient when it comes to things like getting a glass of water or going to the bathroom. I try to write when my toddler is napping, she naps for about 2 hours from noon until 2ish. I can usually jam something out, or work on revisions. I don't set daily goals though, since I know right now I wouldn't meet them and I don't need to put pressure on myself in that way. I've been thinking a lot about it recently and for me, I have to put writing on the back burner for the summer. Yes writing is a part of my life and a bit more than a hobby for me....but man my kids are so much more important than me staring at my computer pegging away. I don't want their memories to be of mom ignoring them for the sake of the computer. I'm not sure if you have an older child than your 3 year old, but I sometimes look at Ayla (my 6 yo) and it seems like just yesterday she was toddling around like Lizzy (my toddler). Time flies, our kids are only this age for a short time. Soon they'll be teenagers and want nothing to do with me so I need to enjoy it now while I can. That said, I do miss writing daily. I miss the escapism. I'm a SAHM and some days are rough - today being one of them. During the school year my mother-in-law takes my toddler for one day during the week. I call it my day off, which it is, and I plan ahead for it so I have the day free of housework and errands and I get solid writing done. I don't want to rush summer by as it's my favorite time of year, but sometimes I can't wait for fall so I can get back to writing like I used to.
