100 Things You Should Know About Writing (Part 1)

20) How to Go About Goals

This is actually a very important thing to know for NaNoWriMo, but it's also pretty relevant to writing in general. 

Goals are tricky. 

They can help you get things done, yes. But they can also cause you to put a lot of pressure on yourself. Especially if you're someone like me, who adds another dimension to it by making myself accountable for my goals. 

That said, goals can be a huge help if you use them in the right way. Today, I'm going to explain what "using them in the right way" means, and then I'm going to give you some tips on setting goals. Lastly, I'll explain how to go about achieving goals you've set. 

When it comes to setting goals, there seem to be three kinds of people: 

1) Those who set goals and admire them from afar.  One example I can think of easily are the many writers who refer to themselves as "aspiring writers." If you write often, have a story to share, and are either writing or thinking about writing something specific, you're a writer. So, being a writer isn't really something to aspire towards. It's sort of like saying you're an "aspiring dead person." You're either dead, or you're not.

You'd be surprised, though, at how many "aspiring writers" never write. These are usually the ones saying "I don't have the time!" or... "I still need to find my writer's voice."  Or... "I need to learn more about writing before I actually write." (To address all of these, see Part 2, Section 28)

Another example of this camp of goal setters: "I want to be a published author." 

Except they either never write, or they hide every single one of their stories because "it's not good enough." (Part 2, Section 49)

The point is that these people set goals, but just aren't hungry for it. Or they are hungry, but they use lame-ass excuses (I'm sorry, but that's exactly what they are.) so they don't feel bad about not putting the effort in. 

Don't get me wrong. I don't see people who do this as inferior or anything like that. I do, however see writers who engage in this behavior as people who are crippling themselves. I also know there's one huge, yet frighteningly simple reason why people do this: 

Fear of Failure. 

Whether it's conscious or not, all of us have this way of thinking that it's not "technically" failure if we didn't try too hard. It's human. From a writer's perspective, it's the thinking that you didn't fail because no one read your book. No, because although you always wanted the book to be widely read and loved, you just never quite managed to start it. Or finish it. Or submit it. Or edit it the way it's supposed to be edited. Or publish it. 

And yes, writers do crave validation on some level. So fear of failure, the fear that we'd be rejected by our audiences, is a real thing. It's deeply rooted. And if not watched, it's destructive. Especially when we help it along by crippling ourselves with excuses like "I just don't have the time." 

If you recognized yourself as belonging to this group of people, the only way to get to your goal is a mind-shift. 

You need to realize the following things: 

1) There's only one sort of failure that's permanent, and that's when you failed to do something because you didn't try. 

2) If you did try and didn't succeed, it's not failure. It's a lesson in how to be better. Learn it and try again. 

Take a few moments to let that sink in. 

Now... to go after that goal: Just. Do. Something. If your excuse was always that you didn't have time: Find fifteen minutes to write every day. Come on. Fifteen minutes. You might be tempted to say "But I can only write in big chunks."