I was going to use Goodreads and all the controversy over Amazon buying out Goodreads, but that shipped has sailed. All we can do is wait to see if it was good or bad for us authors. It is not productive to hash over something we have no control.
Instead, let’s talk about Goal Setting. Even “pantsers” must have goals, although they may not be written down like “planners”.
Do you set daily, weekly, or monthly goals? Annual or long term? I am interested in hearing from both writers with deadlines set by their agents or publishers and writers that work alone.
How do to keep yourself on track?
Normally, I work best with some pressure. I loved NANOWRIMO and this A-Z Challenge. But sometimes I bite off more than I can chew and I need to step back and catch my breath a little.
My long term goal is to finish a good first draft of my current WIP by the end of the calendar year. This story requires quite a bit of research so I know I can’t “pants” it out in thirty days like with NANO. On shorter term, my goal is 6000 words per month of “good” work.
What are your goals?
Writing Under Fire 
I thrive on setting goals! Yearly, monthly, and weekly, I’ve got a list going. 🙂
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My goal is to enter some contests, which sets a time goal and gets my work out for others to see.
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For me, I am a plotter all the way. When I first started to write my first fiction book about two years ago I’d never even heard of ‘plotters’ and ‘pantser.’ I remember when I started to see SOTP. I thought maybe they spelled the word ‘stop’ wrong, that is how green I was. I have yet to participate in NANOWRIMO, but I plan to someday. As for setting goals, something that works for me is Novel Track with ACFW. They have it for both writing and editing. You tell them your goal at the beginning of the month. You report in everyday, or when you can, with giving what your numbers were for that day. At the end of the month if you make your goal you get a badge you can use on your website. It is a great accountability group of people who all encourage and support one another throughout the month. I love it.
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I forgot a goal I have currently going for myself and that is to take a word or phrase every day and write on it for 365 days. I do this every day except special days during the month like holidays or the end of the month where I have a summary post. I have written up to day 90 so far and so far 66 of the posts have been posted. It’s been a lot of fun to do as I make my way through this goal. I love it. The book I’m using to help me is “A Year of Writing Dangerously: 365 Days of Inspiration & Encouragement.” Originally, I had planned to take one each day and write on one, but that wasn’t feasible. I know there will be days I can’t write. So I want to be sure that I have at least one thing that posts every day.
Since starting this I have found how much I love it and already have planned out the next three to four years with different books I will use to reference for the word or phrase for that day. I may eventually come back to the book I’m using now and start over but who knows. All I know is that I have finally found a way to regularly post on my daughter’s dedication website. With the A to Z Challenge, I now have two posts a day posting which is kind of kewl.
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