Many of us are looking forward to the New Year.
This past year has been difficult for many people… writers included. For myself, I find it encouraging to reflect on what worked and what didn’t for the past year and and brainstorm what I’d love to accomplish for the next year.
When I take pen to paper and brainstorm those details that I really want from my writing life, it helps me to focus on what’s good in my life and how I can make things better in the world around me. Personally, I’ve discovered if I think too much about all that went wrong(especially in this past year), I tend to get discouraged and that doesn’t motivate me to set new goals for the New Year.
So, I’ve been brainstorming about the coming year, focusing on those writing goals and dreams that I really want to accomplish. I’ve been thinking of the possibilities instead of what might go wrong. By doing that, I get excited about what’s possible as I set goals for the new year!
If you’ve been wondering how to get clear on your writing goals for 2021, I hope today’s blogpost will be helpful for you. As you read the post below you’ll find steps, that hopefully will help you take action to achieve your New Year’s writing goals with a new excitement and clarity! 🙂
How to Get Clear on Your Writing Goals for 2021…
To gain clarity on your writing goals for the coming year, sometimes it’s important to look at what happened in the previous year. This is something I decided to do as 2020 is coming to a close.
It was helpful to look back at this past year and ask myself why I missed a few of the goals I had set.
One of the goals I had was to self-publish three new sweet romance books for my pen name, but I only managed to get two books finished. Why? As I reflected on different reasons that might have caused this, I came up with the following:
- My writing goals weren’t as clearly defined as they needed to be.
- I allowed myself to listen to(read) negative news sources or social media, which at times brought fear and worry. The result was a dwindling of creative ideas and flow and less time spent writing.
So, my lessons learned as I have reflected on this past year, is to choose to focus better and to be more consistent on taking action on those details that will move the needle forward in my author business.
Steps to Take that will Help You Get Clear on Your Writing Goals:
STEP 1: Give Yourself Permission to Dream of What You Want to Achieve(and the results you’ll get) for the New Year.
Are you wondering why I added this phrase “give yourself permission to dream of what you want to achieve?” Here’s why: I’ve noticed with myself(and with other writers I know) that my first “go-to” as I write my goals, is to focus on what seems “easy to achieve” and all too often I dismiss my actual writing dreams as too ‘pie in the sky.’
Let me add this. There is nothing wrong with being practical or realistic about your writing goals, in fact that’s important. However, I truly believe that your passion(and your motivation) needs to be fed and encouraged, everyday… as ultimately it’s that passion and motivation that will help you reach the big goals and desires you have for your writing life.
My own writing life is a good example. When I self-published my 1st novel in 2013, I had in mind to write maybe two more books in that series, and then most likely quit writing. To my mind, writing seemed way too difficult… and took so much time(aka work) to write a novel. But, here’s where that initial goal changed: I began to listen to podcasts and read blogposts of other self-published authors(indie authors), writing fiction and earning a high four to five figure a month income and that peaked my interest and kindled a new dream inside me. Hearing about what was possible by other authors who had achieved the dream I wanted, stoked the flame of the fire inside me to reach for what seemed like an impossible writing dream.
As of today, as I’ve continued to write down my goals each year and focus on reaching them everyday, I am now happy to say I’m earning a steady four figure monthly income from my fiction. I’m not where I want to be yet, but I feel encouraged that what I once thought was impossible, now seems possible. Why? Because if I can reach level 1, then I can figure out how to reach level 2 and level 3 and so on in my writing goals and dreams.
The good news, is that the same holds true for you. You can reach your writing goals too.
I do believe it starts by giving yourself permission to dream of what you really want to achieve for this coming year. In fact, I would encourage you to write down your dreams for this coming year, for the next three years and for the next five years. If you do that, you’ll have a really good idea of where you want to be the your long-term and it will be more likely you’ll reach your writing goals.
STEP 2: Put Pen to Paper and Write Down Your Goals… It’s a Key to Making It Happen.
When you write yo
By writing your goals down on paper, you are charting your course and deciding where you want to go. For instance, you wouldn’t go to the airport and purchase a ticket to “anywhere” because that won’t work. In order to purchase a ticket, you need to know where you’re headed… that’s the only way you’re going to get there.
Apply this same principle to help you reach your writing goals. Chart your course of what you want to accomplish by December 31, 2021. Here’s some examples of goals…
- I will write and self-publish three fiction books by the end of the year.
- I will add more subscribers to my email newsletter.
- I will will reach many new readers and increase book sales by the end of this year.
Writing down ideas like those above, are a great way to start.
However, the real power in setting goals is to make them S.M.A.R.T, which is what we’ll talk about next…
STEP 3: Make Sure Your Goals are Specific. How to Use the S.M.A.R.T Goal Setting Method.
Too many of us try to go reach our writing dreams, without having clear, specific goals written down. This is a mistake I made for years, and by not writing down my goals I didn’t reach them either.
Brian Tracy an expert on the subject of goal-setting says, “You will achieve your 
I truly believe that when we don’t set goals, we’re just leaving our writing life up to chance, to just wait and see what happens. I’ve tried that, and I’m here to tell you I didn’t get much done.
A goal-setting technique that I’ve found super helpful, is the S.M.A.R.T method.
I just started using this goal-setting method about two years ago, but writing down my goals in detail and keeping them in front of me everyday, has really changed and super-charged my results.
You might be wondering what does it mean to set S.M.A.R.T. goals? Below, I’ve listed what I mean, along with examples:
- Specific: You must be specific and detailed about what you want to accomplish for this coming year. Incorrect example: I will write and self-publish three fiction books by the end of the year. Correct Example: I will write my first sweet romance book by April 30, 2021. I will write my second sweet romance book by August 30, 2021. I will write my third sweet romance book by December 30, 2021.
- Measurable: Measure whether of not you reached your goal. Incorrect example: I will add more subscribers to my email newsletter by the end of 2021. Correct Example: I will write a novella by February 28, 2021 and offer it for Free to my readers. I will use Book Funnel and Story Origin to offer the new Free ebook download to readers, with a goal to add one thousand new subscribers to my email newsletter by December 31, 2021.
- Action-Oriented: It’s important to use Action Verbs when you set goals like: write, save, earn, invest, enroll, etc. Incorrect Example: I will be more consistent with my writing goals every week. Correct Example: I will set my goal to write a minimum of 1000 words a day to reach 6,000 words by Saturday for every week in the year of 2021.
- Realistic: Even though you begin by brainstorming your writing dreams and it’s important to set goals here that stretch you and cause you to grow… but these goals should also be reachable. Let’s assume you haven’t written your first book yet. Here’s an Incorrect Example: I will write a book a month to have 12 books published by December 31, 2021.(This goal is unrealistic – if you haven’t written a book yet – because you won’t have an accurate metric on how long it takes for you to write and publish a book). Correct Example: I will write my first book by June 30, 2021.
- Timeline: A deadline will keep you motivated. It’s important to always set a “by when” date. It will motivate you to achieve it. For instance, the quickest way to clean your house is to invite guests over. Why? Because there is a deadline… lol 😉 Incorrect Example: I will write my first book. Correct Example: I will write my first romance novel by June 30, 2021.
One last detail to help you reach your goals: If you take a few minutes to write down your list of 5 to 10 goals in a notebook every morning for 30 days, you will be surprised at how focused you will be to get them done. This is something Brian Tracy recommends and he says so many people have achieved all their goals on their list by the end of the year, simply because they wrote them down and reviewed those goals every day.
So, I want to encourage you to go through the list above. Put pen to paper and jot down your writing goals that you want to achieve for the coming year. Then review those goals every day – set a timer to remind you(I set a timer on my ipad) – and review your goals every day. That way your goals will be at the forefront of your mind everyday.
When you are laser focused on what you want to achieve in your author business for the coming year, you will achieve them!
Happy planning!
Question: What are some ways that you stay focused on your writing goals? Please do comment below, I’d love to hear your thoughts! We can learn from each other. 🙂
