The beginning of the year brings a slew of listicles, such as ‘Becoming your best self’ and ‘25 ways to crush your New Year’s resolutions,’ joined by articles like ‘Why you shouldn’t hold yourself to unrealistic expectations.’ It’s the perfect time of year for self-loathing and wallowing in the ashes of the previous year’s expectations. These feelings of inadequacy were especially pertinent to my writing goals. For years, my resolution was akin to “I just want to finish my novel. Just finish.” Then, I would go about my regular life without planning how to achieve this goal. That’s a roadmap leading nowhere instead of a writing year.
Part of this lackadaisical approach hinged on the insane notion that actual writers sat down to write brilliant prose only when the muse inspired them. The falsity of this assumption led to sporadic writing sessions that quickly trailed off into oblivion at the first distraction.
However, something happened last year that changed how I approached my writing. My wife and I completed a packet for our goals relating to investing; stick with me on this because it will tie in. The packet broke down goals into smaller bites until you plan out weekly benchmarks to achieve a long-term vision of your life. It was revolutionary in taking seemingly impossible ambitions and making them reachable.
With my time broken into weekly units, it was easier to see how to make consistent progress. It was laughable that until now, I’d assumed writers had no system for helping them complete goals. So, I set about applying this logic to creating a writing process.
The first step was eliminating the insane notion that inspiration was the key to my success. It wasn’t. It was the albatross trying to drag me overboard. Instead of waiting to be inspired, I had to take action. To write a book, I had to knuckle down and write.
Implementing this simple idea was another story. As an accountant, by day, I tend to break problems into quantifiable units. This ensures tasks are achievable, which works as a motivator. Setting a target word count for my work-in-progress and the deadline for finishing solidified measurable goals. No longer just the nebulous idea of ‘finishing a book.’
The knowledge of how much to write and when it was due wasn’t going to work without the practice of consistency. Determining the number of writing days that would fit into my schedule was the issue. However, looking over my calendar, I noticed that one block of time is legally required every day—lunch break. Taking lunches to write in a never-used conference room, I hit my word count without stressing about the when. Consistency was the key.
Ultimately, I finished my book ahead of schedule, as writing five days a week turned into writing daily. After a break and some work on other projects, I completed the first round of edits before starting and finishing a second book before the end of the year. All it took was breaking through some false assumptions and setting up a schedule that worked for me.
As the year begins, I have incorporated my writing goals into the packet for this year. The packet includes quarterly goals that break down monthly and weekly tasks to keep me on track.
I wanted to share this process with anyone who needs it. The link below provides a packet that I hope will help anyone wanting to get more organized with writing.
Ultimately, I know this will not work for everyone. It’s like writing advice: If you look long enough, you’ll find someone saying what you want to hear. But you won’t know if you don’t try it.
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