Meet Your Writing Goals Now, Not Later
I own Writerwerx University and I’m an author, screenwriter, and ghostwriter. This means I spend a lot of time interacting with various kinds of writers (especially new ones). One of the reasons I see people fail to start their manuscript, finish their screenplay, or complete any other literary feat is that they don’t have a plan.
Next year / next month / next week / Monday will be here sooner than you think. And, like most activities in life, if you don’t have a plan, things are going to be harder than necessary or (more likely) they won’t get done at all. But you can make tomorrow / next week / next month / next year different. Not by hoping, wishing, and praying. Not by posting inspirational quotes, memes, and poems. Not even by making a vision board or hiring someone else to do the work for you. But by picking a specific goal, researching how to achieve it, and making time to get it done.
Know Your Writing Goal
What exactly are you trying to accomplish? Are you writing a book about the alphabet for five-year-olds or creating a screenplay meant to be the horror blockbuster of the year? A vague “goal” (example: “I want to write more!”) will make being successful as hard as herding blind cats with a piece of floss.
Impossible? Not at all.
WTF? Exactly.
STOP AND GO: Right now, stop and think about what specific literary project you want to get done. What will you be creating? A short story? A screenplay? A self-help book? A memoir? A journal? Don’t worry about the ‘how’ and ‘when’ and other details just yet. Simply choose what you want to accomplish. If you want to be an overachiever, write the goal down somewhere prominent like the whiteboard over your desk or the notepad on your refrigerator (i.e., “First draft of my memoir finished by 10.31.24” or “Romantic comedy short story-boarded by September 19th, 2024”). Go all out and make it the background or screensaver on your phone (then you’ll NEVER miss it!).
Research the Path
Now it’s time to figure out how to do what you want to achieve. Where do you start? What are the steps? For example, a key starting point that keeps my overactive brain on track is outlining. Outlines are just lists of the scenes or content that you want to include in each section of the book. Each part of the outline can be as little as a few words long (i.e., “Red wakes up,” “Eats breakfast,” “Mom sends her to Granny’s house,” etc.). With an outline, every time you sit down to write (because you will create a writing schedule, RIIIIIGHT????) you know exactly what you’re working on for that session. This saves your mind from wandering. It also helps you finish faster. Outlining also means your first draft will be cleaner and more organized than a manuscript created without an outline.
STOP AND GO: Google the steps to getting whatever kind of piece you want to write completed. Generally speaking, there is no universally correct or incorrect way to write something. But having a list of steps gives you a starting point and a way to track your progress. Example searches: “How to outline a novel,” “How to write a screenplay,” “How to write a memoir,” and so on.
Eliminate the Excuses
“This sounds too easy.” — Don’t overcomplicate things for no reason. If something feels comfortable and is going well, don’t self-sabotage. Take advantage of the ease and keep moving forward.
“I don’t have time.” — You’re reading this post right now, so you have at least five minutes each day. That’s all you need. Just switch those five minutes over to writing time. Slow progress is still progress.
“I’m not talented enough.” — No one is! Well-crafted manuscripts don’t fall out of the sky. They are sown in madness, watered with tears, and harvested with calloused fingertips. Great writing is hard work, not happenstance.
Writing a short story, book, screenplay, or memoir isn’t actually all that complicated. The revisions, editing, design, and publishing processes can get a little sticky, true. But actually putting words down on the page is just as simple as it sounds. You don’t need special equipment, fancy software, or a thousand-dollar writing desk (ISYN! Click the link and take a look! O.O). You can do it five minutes at a time or five hours at a time — whatever works for your schedule. You can write in a paper notebook, on a tablet, on index cards, on a smartphone, or on your laptop. You can outline first or just let your brain loose to vomit on the page. You’re in control, so don’t act powerless. Do what works for you, your schedule, and your lifestyle. And, yes, this will likely mean setting aside dedicated writing time (the easiest to manage are usually the 10–15 minutes just before bed or just after waking up). So do that! Most completed manuscripts are the ones that were made a priority.
For more writing and publishing tips, head to WeCanPub.com and browse the 27 free lessons I’ve written to help new writers start their authorship off on solid ground.
Happy achieving!
