Note: “How to Accomplish Your Writing Goals” is a guest post written by E. S. Foster.
How to Accomplish Your Writing Goals
By E. S. Foster
The first step toward accomplishing your writing goals is to have a goal in mind. If you have a major project going on, however, it can be difficult to know where to start. It might also feel overwhelming given how much work you have in front of you. Setting a goal takes a lot of thought, and sticking to one takes work.
But when you create a writing goal for yourself, there are ways to keep everything in order. Here are three tips to help you accomplish a writing goal.
Start Small
When creating a writing goal, it’s best to start small. Trying to do too much too fast will only overwhelm you, and you very likely won’t accomplish anything. You can’t climb a mountain by trying to start at the top. You need to take things one step at a time.
Personally, I like to write things down. It helps me get all of my thoughts out of my head to where I can see them. So when I set a writing goal, I have everything in front of me, and it’s something I can easily adjust if I need to. Here’s an example:
Writing goal: complete a 5,000-word short story
- Start with outlining
- Write 500 words a day
- Edit a page a day after completing the story
With this goal, I not only have the entire writing process developed, but I also have a large goal broken into small pieces. I can then focus on one at a time to create my story.
Create a Schedule
Don’t expect to reach your goal all in one day (unless it’s a very small, manageable one). Setting a writing goal and keeping it means you need to break larger goals into smaller pieces that you can complete each day. To do this, you need to create a schedule.
With the example I gave, this goal can be placed on a schedule. For example, you could decide to write every morning from 8-9. Or you could dedicate some time in the evening to get whatever part of the goal you are working on done. Whatever time works for you.
The idea here is that you put your goal into action. Establishing your goal is the first step. Figuring out how to get it done is just as important.
Discipline Yourself
Lastly, it’s easy to think of a goal and schedule it, but you have to follow through with it. This comes down to disciplining yourself. At first, you’ll need to force yourself to get into a routine, and sometimes it might be difficult to keep going. However, here are a few tips for keeping yourself accountable:
- Find a time that works best for you (keep yourself motivated by writing when you enjoy writing. For example, if you like writing in the evening, don’t force yourself to write in the morning).
- Know when to stop (sometimes you need to stop writing a particular passage because you aren’t getting anywhere with it. Find something else to write or edit for the time being then come back to it later).
- Reward yourself when you complete a task!
Completing a writing goal is incredibly rewarding, but it takes a lot of work to get there. Make things easier for yourself by coming up with small, routine goals. Soon you’ll find that you’re making great strides with your writing progress. Happy writing!
About The Writer
E. S. Foster is a fiction writer and graduate student at the University of Cambridge. She is also the creator of the E. S. Foster blog. Her work has appeared in over twenty literary journals, including Aurora Journal, Aberration Labyrinth, and Paragraph Planet. Her chapbooks have been published by Yavanika Press (2022) and Ghost City Press (2023). You can find more of her articles here.
If you enjoyed “How to Accomplish Your Writing Goals” check out more of E. S. Foster’s guest posts here.
I recently published my first book, if you would like to read it, please click here.
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