Goals

I’ve never been a very goal oriented person. I’m more the type to sit back and react to what happens around me. This isn’t working as far as writing goes.

One of the joys of DH living in Peru and growing up with football (that’s soccer to us Americans) as a way of life means I get treated to World Cup Soccer in Spanish because the coverage is better. The announcers are also a whole lot more into it, it’s crazy how excited they get, especially when you only catch about every 5th word or so. At least it’s only every 4 years.

One of the Divas Author of the Month forum workshops was by Jaci Burton on career building and goal setting. I read everything, but didn’t really do anything with it. It seems silly to me to be thinking about things like agents and editors and publishing houses at this point. Maybe this is fear of rejection talking, but seriously, my main goal is still to have something finished and in shape to send to one of those type people. Baby steps.

One of the sections of the RD board there’s a section for posting goals and being held accountable to them. I’ve never posted there before, but I’m always reading and occasionally cheering people on. One of the people I regular challenge with, Elune, posted a very simple and elegant set of goals:

Daily (weekday) Goals

  1. Write at least 2K words
  2. Read through & revise previous days progress

Weekly (weekend) Goals

  1. Learn 1 new thing to improve my writing
  2. Read through & revise the weeks progress

Monthly Goals

  1. Read through & revise the months progress
  2. Refresh 4 lessons learned that month

Short and to the point. They’re easily measurable. They’re not very subjective! They seem reasonable!

I must steal them. Several people are doing a Fast Draft for two weeks where they attempt to write 20 pages a day which comes out around 5k a day. Now, looking back at November, there’s no way I can do that, not with other obligations still hanging over my head. The 1667/day that NaNoWriMo meant was doable. Last fall I’d been doing the 2k/day when I sat down and focused and knew what I was going to be writing each time.

How fortunate that RD is also hosting a WriMo for May. I think I can do that and I really need incentive to help me push through another first draft. Andi and I are talking about becoming accountability buddies, but the combination should ensure success. So, I’m going to steal Elune’s goals and tweak them for me. I’m sure they’ll evolve over time and come to include more things, but for now, this is what I want to do for May. I know I’m going to probably have a week devoted to other obligations, but I think it’s do able!

Kaige’s Daily (weekday) Goals

  1. Write daily journal entry (1k words)
  2. Write at least 2K words on WIP
  3. Sanity check next 2 scenes, adjust where necessary

Kaige’s Weekly (weekend) Goals

  1. Make sure 14k goal for week is met
  2. Sanity check remaining outline, adjust where necessary
  3. Post a minimum of 3 times per week (Th13 is one).

Kaige’s Goal for May

  1. Have rough draft completed by May 30th before we go camping.
  2. Don’t sweat the small stuff!

Wish me luck, I’m gonna need it. I can already feel the welts from Andi’s whip. *wince*

What do you do to push yourself and meet your personal goals?

11 thoughts on “Goals”

  1. Luck!

    And, Kaige, I’ve decided to use a wet rubber pool noodle instead of a whip. It’ll hurt less, but one thump on your head should get those brain cells a-crankin’ again. And if not, I’ll just give you another thunk. Heh, this is going to be fun.

    I think your daily (weekday) goals seem entirely doable–not too much of a bite, and not too little.

    I’m inspired also to set up a daily/weekly/monthly set of goals. Like you, I’ve never been that goal-oriented, so I’m going to have to consciously work at it. I figure I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. And I’m hoping my goals become routine, just like doing kitchen dishes, brushing my teeth and choosing my clothing for the next day at work. Only doing that stuff isn’t fun…so I’ll have to look at this another way.

    Okay. It’ll be like working out. Once you get the heart rate up and sweat regularly (say, two weeks at least), your body begins to crave it. To need it.

    I find I inspire myself best by helping to inspire others. I can’t very well slack off if I’m swinging my pool noodle at you, now can I?

    🙂

  2. *ducks*

    Ooh, pool noodles! DH said the 2k a day sounded high, but didn’t argue when I said that’s what I’d been doing last fall (before NaNo). He did agree with me that the Fast Draft sounded insane.

    I’ve got 1 of my scene descs done. 8 to go!

  3. well…if you take the 1k you’re doing for your journal and do half of that for your wip–and the other half for your blog, you’ll have more wip and more blog. ‘sides, I consider my blog my journal (can you tell?)

    How about a nerf sword? I love nerf swords.

  4. Way to go, Kaige! Stand up and do the wave. You might as well strrrretch, too.

    And I like Jodi’s idea of a Nerf sword. That’ll be easier to wield. Hah!

    You should have one, too. We can play ungarde on the (hopefully) rare times we both go kerplunk.

  5. Jodi, I often do pull my blog posts from my journal entries. The real problem lies in that I can crank out 1k of journal in 20-30 minutes, but 20 minutes in the WIP usually means anywhere from 100-400 words. It really varies widely.

    I want a Nerf crossbow! They’re awesome. But in the name of fairness, I’ll take a Nerf sword too, Andi.

    I got 5 scenes detailed so far, and decided instead of 36 scenes, I really only have 26. They may have individual entries on the spread sheet, but they’re still basically in one location and time. I’m going to try to get 1 or 2 more done tonight before I go to bed, but we’ll see.

    We’re off to dinner!

  7. Thanks, Kat! But wait… which are you saying is going to need more luck? *ducks the slash of Andi’s Nerf sword*

    Oh and dinner was out on the coast at a fabulous Italian steak and seafood house. Mmmmm. A few less clouds and we’d have had an awesome Pacific sunset sitting out on the patio instead of a so-so one.

  10. I’m thinking of fast drafting too. It sure won’t hurt. Just lock myself in my room and turn on the computer and keep going for hours and hours. *sigh*

    I used to have a nerf sword to hit my kids on the head. Wham! Do your homework. It was wonderfully annoying. Wham! Clean your room. I might just buy another one. Wham!! Stop leaving ethernet cables in the hallway.

  11. I decided I needed to turn out a quick post at the Bar to tie some things together and drop a little foreshadowing into the mix. 780 words, no edits needed, completed during a 15 minute break at the office. Damn. I was on a roll. I guess the goal was a lot easier to accomplish than I thought it would be. Now, if McKenna would just talk to me… 🙁

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