January is often the month people (writers for all this column cares) are on their best behavior and discipline on the subject of hitting targets on their set goals. Seventeen years ago when I was barely 30% into my first book, which I started writing three years before, I decided or determined I was going to finish my first draft before December that year. I had made what I thought at the time was a water-tight plan to get it done. This water-tight plan included in some funny way, writing what could be up to 6,000 words on a single day. Of course, you know by this stage without me having to say it that this plan went to shit.
In my defense, I had no idea what I was doing. It was the very first time I was writing anything at all. Unlike many writers, I didn't get started by trying my hands on some lightweight projects like short stories or flash fiction, and stuff like that. I was just a teenager who decided I was going to write a book and dove right into writing a complex political crime thriller. Because I had an unforgiving University schedule and some other projects at hand that were of perhaps more importance to me than my writing, I was only able to free up the second Saturday of every month for writing. The plan was, on this particular Saturday, I would pack my notepads, a lunch, and a bottle of water and travel to one of the classroom blocks in the most remote part of campus, and I would write like I had a gun to my head.
I can't remember the specifics of the falling apart of that plan but by December, of the writing days I was going to have, I only made it to that classroom five times. And in those five days, I wrote a proud total of 13,000 words. Yes, that was all I wrote in that year. Fast forward to 2012 when I was out of school and about to start writing my third book, Ujasiri. I realized that as unforgiving as a University schedule was, a full-time job plus a side gig was more brutal.
I leant that while setting goals was a bold and responsible thing to do, and indeed, the first step to achieving anything, what was more important was the wisdom you apply towards setting said goals and how you execute. I would run through a brief list what you as a writer should be mindful about when setting writing goals.
- Be honest with yourself about your goals. This includes being realistic with your goals versus the time and skill depth and experience at your disposal. A first time writer may not deliver quality at the time it takes a writer on their 10th book. Understand where you are at on your writing journey and your growth level. Then set goals that respects that.
- Consider life in time management. As badly as you want to finish that writing project, you have a million things that are competing for your time. Even if writing is your main job, you would need to eat, go out for groceries, do at least a little domestic chores, you will need adequate sleep and rest; all these combined may take the lion share of your 24 hours, so maybe don't assume you have 24 hours daily to write.
- Have mercy on your self. Reduce the pressure you put on yourself so that you can have a clear mind to write. When it appears you are falling behind schedule, don't beat yourself about it. Instead, re-strategize. It would help if you don't set your goals based on what you see or think others are doing. I often see writers on social media talk about writing 5,000 words in a day. So good for them. I would never think of matching that. I understand my capacity and creative design. The maximum I can write in a day before I crash is 2,000 words and that's more than okay for me. Try not to allow other people's progress or accomplishments push you to mess up your own process.
- Set goals that align with your career strategy. You wouldn't want to be half way through the year and realize what you have been doing doesn't really help the bigger picture of your career. This is terribly demoralizing. When you set your writing goals, be sure, be double sure it fits right into whatever strategy you have for your career both in the short and long term. Unless you believe writing loads of poetry is going to improve you prose skills or help attract engagement on your social media, don't set poetry goals when you're ultimately going for establishing your influence as a Sci-Fi author. This may sound ridiculous but I had an author friend who was churning out three haikus a day for eight weeks while their novel was more or less abandoned. I thought it was all cool though, until I learned he was trying to match the record of some poet he found on Twitter who had over 900 Haikus. We authors are often vulnerable to the trap of competition. It is easy to start thinking if only you can match the achievements of some other writer, you would feel more fulfilled as a writer. It's a lie. You will never feel fulfilled as a writer. Stop it.
Whatever goals you set, be sure to always remember that your goals were made for you, not you for the goals. Keep writing and keep winning.