Writing a novel – a writer’s journal part 16: progress report
No Comments »2nd September, 2009; Category: Fiction, Goal setting, Master of Arts course, The Writer's Life, Writing a novel, Writing for Children
I had a fantastic day of writing today.
I actually completely finished a whole chapter. Chapter 12 of my novel for children is now finished and it leaves the reader dangling ready to turn the page to the next chapter. I have been trying hard to finish each chapter on an exciting high like this, enticing the reader to keep turning the pages.
Stopping at a high point of drama like this also helps me as a writer. I’ve planned what happens next already. The scene is not yet complete and so I have the perfect launching point for tomorrow’s writing session.
I have set myself the goal of 600 words per day over the last month. This goal will remain in place for the rest of September too. Over the last four day, however, I’ve managed to achieve just shy of 4000 words, 1990 of them today, my most productive writing day in a long time. I’ve not only passed the half way mark of 20,000 words, I leapt over the 22,000 word marks as well. The feeling is great.
An even greater feeling is that the story and the characters are really taking over. The momentum has been building now for several weeks. The plot is now an unstoppable vehicle heading for the climax.
Good writing.
Writing a novel – a writer’s journal part 15: Goal setting
5 Comments »1st September, 2009; Category: Fiction, Goal setting, Master of Arts course, Novels, The Writer's Life
As a writer I have learned that I need to be very goal oriented.
- Setting firm goals for my writing keeps me on track.
- Setting firm goals keeps me accountable to myself.
- Setting firm goals helps me to track my progress.
- Setting firm goals keeps me focused and minimizes distractions.
I’ve written about setting writing goals before (click here).
More recently I needed to revise some of the goals I set for this year. Due to my illness and hospitalization several months ago, I suddenly found myself well behind with the writing of my current novel. For new readers to this blog, this novel for children is my thesis paper for my Master of Arts in Creative Writing. I should have had the draft finished weeks ago and I should now be in the process of rewriting, editing and polishing the finished product. Not so. My supervising lecturers have been very sympathetic to my plight.
About a month ago I reassessed the situation. Could I, in reality, get it finished on time? The lecturers believed I could. I knew it was going to be a close call. So I took a cold hard look at myself, at what needed to be done and the available time left to complete the project.
I decided to set myself a goal of 600 words of my novel per day. This would get me finished on the first draft by the end of September, leaving October to complete the rewriting, editing and copy editing. I also needed to set aside November to write a 10,000 word exegesis essay about how I went about the writing, my research and other matters.
My goal of 600 words daily seemed achievable. Last year I achieved just over 700 words per day for the whole year. This year I was hovering around the 600 mark so it was a realistic goal to set.
To help me visualize the task and the progress (or lack thereof) I was making, I set up an MS Excel file. On this file I listed the dates, my progressive goal for each day and then graphed the actual words achieved. Every day I update this graph and it maps my progress. It is working like a charm. At a glance I can see if I’m ahead of schedule (I was) keeping up (I did), getting behind (currently yes) or slacking off completely (I haven’t).
I think I’ll do it. I might need to take a few extra days near the end, but there is enough flexibility built in to accommodate this eventuality.
So it’s head down, tail on the seat and fingers to the keyboard.
I just can’t afford to get sick again.
Good writing.
UPDATE:
I did it.
I finished my novel 10 days ahead of schedule. This will give me much needed breathing space and more time for rewriting, editing and proofreading.
Becoming a professional writer
“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”
~ Richard Bach
If you are a writer struggling with the dream of becoming a professional writer, don’t quit.
Persistence is the key, and hard work. Set some firm goals for today, this week, this month, this year and for the next five years. Write down these goals – then go for them. Don’t even think about quitting.
Word by word, chapter by chapter, story by story, poem by poem you will become a professional writer.
You may not reap fame or fortune – very few do. Most professional writers who diligently pursue their dreams make a reasonable living from their labours.
And while you are becoming a professional writer you will have the satisfaction that you are doing what you love – writing.
Good writing.
Writing Goals for 2009
I believe in setting goals for my writing. This is an important part of a writer’s life – and for almost every other pursuit in life.
Short term, regular Goals
On a regular basis I set daily, weekly, monthly and annual goals for my writing. These include:
- setting goals for the number of words written
- setting goals for the number of hours of writing
- setting goals for inservice training such as attending conferences, workshops, reading and other forms of self education.
- setting target dates for the submission of manuscripts.
- setting minimum number of posts on my blogs
Long term goals
Late last year I took some time to map out some longer term goals for my writing career. I set some goals for each year for the next five years. This may seem a long view of things but it helped me to clarify where I am heading with my writing. These goals included such things as the number of publications I would like to accomplish as well as some projected – and hopefully realistic – income goals over the next five years. All these goals are flexible and wil be adapted to suit changing circumstances.
My specific goals for 2009
It is always good to set some specific goals for the immediate future. Some of my goals for this year include:
- Completing my Master of Arts in Creative Writing – this is well under way with one year to go. I should be finished by this time next year.
- Writing a 40,000 word novel – this will be my thesis paper for my degree. The novel must be of a publishable standard. That’s my big challenge this year.
- Submissions to publishers of manuscripts written during my course last year. This includes several picture books, a short novel for young children, dozens of poems and several short stories.
- Continued posting of articles on my three blogs (see the links in the sidebar).
- Averaging 1000 words per day for the whole year (up from 700 per day achieved last year).
- Averaging 5 hours per day on my writing, a target I achieved last year. This might not seem much until you try – to average 5 hours per day I actually had to do many days over 10 hours to achieve the average. There will always be days when no writing is achieved due to illness, holidays, family responsibilities and so on.
I can see that it will be a busy year – again.
Good writing.
Setting goals for your writing
I receive email newsletters from a number of excellent writing centres, groups and web sites. These vary in quality from week to week or month to month. Most, however, contain something I can easily apply to my writing to improve it.
This week I received a very passionate email from a writer here in Australia. It was all about setting goals in order to give your writing direction and impetus. Strange that I should read this article immediately after setting a few writing goals for myself.
I know it’s not New Year yet, but there was a special need for me to revise my writing goals. Two days ago I finished attending my Writing Course for the year. I now have a break from lectures until next February. It was time to review what I’d achieved this year and to determine where I am heading over the next few weeks, months and years. In fact, I take a long term view with my writing, especially my blogging. I realised early on that steady income from writing, and blogging in particular, takes time to develop.
Consequently, I have reset some goals, extending over the next five years.
I also break this down into yearly, monthly, weekly and daily goals. To help me I keep fairly accurate records of what I actually achieve. This keeps me honest and accountable to myself. I no longer beat myself up if I get behind a little, but it sure motivates me to keep going.
Over this next few weeks, do a review of your writing (or blogging) achievements for this year. Then jot down a few goals for next year, and for the next five years. Then get back to the writing so you can achieve those goals.
Good writing.
Related articles: