Writing Hint #26 Set a minimum target each day

Successful writers set goals.

The most successful writers set firm goals that they almost always meet. They allow themselves to be diverted or distracted only by extremely important matters – things such as the house being on fire, or the flood waters rising so quickly the computer is in serious danger of floating out the window, or an earthquake has opened a gaping hole in the wall allowing a bitter wind to chill the writer to the bone.

Keep Goals Simple

These writing goals should be simple and easy to remember through the day and are achievable. This means that they need to be realistic. If you set a goal to write 5000 words a day but you’ve never written more than 200 in one day ever, your goal might be set a little too high. Five hundred words might be more realistic. If you are working at a full time job to support your writing addiction, 250-300 words a day might be all you can realistically achieve.

My suggestion is to set a minimum number of words or pages that you WILL write every day. No exceptions. Extra words or pages on any one day do NOT count towards the next day’s goal: they are a bonus. Stick to achieving your goal every day. You will be surprised how quickly the words mount up. A modest 500 words per day adds up to a massive novel-length manuscript of 100,000 words in a little over six months.

Good writing.

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• Writing Hints -the above article is number 26 in a series of writing hints worth reading.