Writing Goals

I just finished up doing a class at the League of Utah Writers state-wide conference this past weekend. I'll summarize a few points that I made for achieving writing success with the 'SMART' program.

Specific: Make sure that your writing goal is not an outcome ("I want to be published" or "I want to be a bestselling author.") True goals are specific in nature and the more specific it is, the better sense of direction you'll have to achieve it.

Measurable: You have to be able to break your goal down into smaller, more measurable, steps. That way you'll know if you're en-route to your larger goal. Short-term goals can be determined by asking yourself "What, Who, Where, When, How and Why?" Such as "What will I write about? Who will I submit to? Where do I submit to? When will I complete this? How do I write this? Why should I write this?"

Achievable: This is not a matter of downgrading your goals to make them easy, but of balancing your time and talents against what you want to achieve.

Rewarding: What is your motivation for writing? Fame and fortune can be short-term and so you need to look at the larger picture.

Time-bound: Set timeframes for each section of your goal. This way, you'll avoid procrastination.