2010 Goal Report
Comments (0) I set goals last January like I do nearly every year. I use SMART goals: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. An example of a smart goal is: I will write 1000 words per day 28 days of the month. Or: I will complete the first draft of my novel by December 31. What these goals have in common is that I control the outcome. I didn’t add a goal whose outcome teetered on something out of my control like: I will land SuperAgent Mary Jones by June 3. That’s not a good goal because I can work as hard as possible and still not succeed if Mary doesn’t want my work. Don’t write goals whose outcome depends on the actions of other people or forces.
The best goals are measurable in simple ways and can be tracked on a regular basis in something like a spreadsheet or calendar. Daily word counts that you log and monitor are one example, but you can also think about how many potential agents you need to research, classes you want to take or critiques you want to do. When you think about goals think about how you will measure your success.
Finally, make sure your goals are attainable. Nothing is more depressing than a goal that is beyond your current skillset. Stretch goals are great and encourage you to reach just a bit farther but not so far away that you fall out of the tree.
So onto my goals! I always have fun with them. This year I used animal pictures taken during my African vacation for fun illustration, and used a comic layout. But for the goal report, I’m keeping it simple.
So what did I learn? I seem to be able to write at a pretty good clip; however, next year, I likely need to focus more on finished output and less on piles of words. lol. Averaging 2,000 words per day is a decent goal, and I am likely to keep that for next year as I know I can do it and plan to continue writing 2,000 words per day.
I need to focus on getting more critiquing done. I fell short on this and that’s not good because an excellent way to learn is to review others’ works. And I would like to take an in-person workshop next year.
The next step is to use these goals and their results to develop next year’s goals. I’ll take a few days to do this, but you can be certain that when I publish my 2011 goals they’ll be SMART… and will include completing a finished manuscript in less than 5 drafts. ROFL.
Themocracy