Five Steps to Goal-Setting

Written by Jennifer Minar


What would you like to achieve in your lifetime?

Author Basil S. Walth once said, "If you don't know where you are going, how can you expect to get there?" These are words well spoken, because whether you're working toward freelancing full-time or selling your novels, you need a roadmap.

Goals are indispensable. They provide direction, long-term vision and short-term motivation. They separaterepparttar important fromrepparttar 129087 irrelevant. Goals also build self-confidence by helping you grow as an individual.

Olympic athletes, successful business people, and (hint…) bestselling writers are goal setters. You aspire to greatness too, don't you? If you do, and you're not already setting goals, now isrepparttar 129088 perfect time to start.

Five Things to Remember When Setting Goals:

1. Write Goals Down

Always jot down your goals-this is powerful. The process of physically seeing your goals helps crystallize them in your mind. This process also better enables you to commit to them.

Interesting Fact: A popular Harvard Business School study once found that only 3% ofrepparttar 129089 population records their goals in writing. Another 14% have goals but don't write them down, whereas 83% do not even have clearly defined goals. More interesting is that this 3% earned an astounding ten times that ofrepparttar 129090 83% group!

2. Make Goals Short, Attainable, & Measurable

Set attainable short-term goals that can be measured. This means setting quantifiable goals.

Here are some examples:

- Commit to writing a certain number of words each week - Submit at least two articles a week - Find two new markets each week - Take at least one writing course a year - Attend at least one writer's conference a year

Make your goals attainable so you won't get discouraged. The short-term goals above are attainable for me, but they may not be for you. Or maybe for you, my short-term goals aren't challenging enough. Goals are very individual. You have to set your own goals…remember, you're charting your own course to success!

HOW I WROTE MY FIRST NOVEL

Written by Yolanda A. Reid


At age 19, I told my English professor that I was writing a novel. I'd writtenrepparttar first chapter. How interesting! How wonderful! She wanted to know ifrepparttar 129085 novel was about me. I told her that repparttar 129086 main character was like me--a college student, atrepparttar 129087 time--and that her name was Yasmine. But she was NOT me. I was adamant: I wanted to write outside myself.

"Most first novels," she said, "are autobiographical."

I never finished that novel. I estimate that I began 3 or 4 more novels. I wrote lots of notes. None got beyondrepparttar 129088 third chapter. (Since then, I've written 2 complete novels.)

Allrepparttar 129089 while, I wrote dozens of short stories. Some of these stories formed an inter-connected series, based on my grandfather's tales.

Overrepparttar 129090 years, I wrote in my journal, describingrepparttar 129091 novels I wanted to write. A few months before I began to write my first novel, I wroterepparttar 129092 the following words--which are, I think,repparttar 129093 essence of my novel's grandfather-character:

"I could haverepparttar 129094 old man tell a tale when he speaks of love. Bk II is a combination tale, history (impersonal and personal). He reminisces on his youth, . . . on his beloved's death. On Love. Onrepparttar 129095 world. Through time. . . ."

Then,repparttar 129096 next spring, I sat down and wrote a one-page outline for my novel. I wrote each chapter fairly swiftly. After about 6 months,I began to revise. The first version was written in longhand. The second, on a typewriter. Then, a couple more versions on my computer. (See resource links below.)

As I wrote and re-wrote, I wept. No one had told me how emotional I might get while writing a first novel. So I setrepparttar 129097 book aside. After a few months, I returned torepparttar 129098 manuscript withrepparttar 129099 idea of incorporating some ofrepparttar 129100 stories intorepparttar 129101 novel. And voila! I had written my first novel.

So, if you're a writer contemplatingrepparttar 129102 writing of your first novel, here are a few suggestions:

--Be prepared to cry. When you do, take a break from writing-- either a couple of days or a couple of weeks. You decide. You might try skippingrepparttar 129103 section that makes you cry. You can get back to it oncerepparttar 129104 first draft is completed. Just know that your own reaction torepparttar 129105 writing is a sign you're onto something authentic and life-altering.

--Ask a friend to be your novel-buddy if you anticipate a strong emotional reaction to your work. As you write--if you begin to experiencerepparttar 129106 emotional reaction--call that friend. Go out to dinner with family. Do something that's fun for a change. Why not take up a hobby that is not writing-related? Like knitting or learning Spanish.

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