Tuesday 5 January 2016

Setting some Writing Goals for 2016

I'm not very good at setting goals and, more importantly, sticking to them. But it's traditional to do so at this time of year so I've decided to set myself some writing goals for this year. I'm under no illusions that I'll achieve them all but it's something to aim for, isn't it?

1. I want to write regularly. I'm guilty of wasting time and faffing around which gets very little done. This year I'd like to be more disciplined about my writing rather than playing about at it. To make this happen I'm going to schedule some writing time into my day - time to spend with the TV off (my worst distraction!), time when I won't feel guilty about spending time writing (it's not messing about after all).   

2. I'd like to get at least one piece of extended writing done this year. No more bits started and never finished on the laptop, a proper piece of writing that has a beginning, middle and end! I'm not going to put too much pressure on by saying I want to write a novel but I'd like to end the year feeling as if there's a finished 'something' on the laptop.

3. I want to write more poetry. I have tended to move away from poetry recently despite writing a fair bit when I was younger - very pretentious stuff mainly but a few pieces that I still like.

4. I would like to feel brave enough to submit some writing for competitions or prizes. Naturally I'll need to have a body of decent work to choose from which means getting 1 and 3 sorted but it would be a real boost to my confidence to do something like that.

5. This would be a good year to release some more of my writing into the wild. I'm very reluctant to share my writing with others as I'm lacking in confidence about what I write. I think I need to engage with more writers and have the confidence to set my writing out for some serious scrutiny. Although it's a bit scary to think about dong it ...

6. This is the 'pie in the sky' one. I'd like to get a piece published somewhere. Nothing like publishing my first novel but maybe a little piece in a local paper or magazine. Small start but you know what they say about acorns!

So those are my writing goals. Here's hoping I revisit them at the end of the year and can report some success! 

19 comments:

  1. Great goals for 2016 and the getting published one is not pie in the sky! Make it happen :)

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    1. Thank you Lea for commenting. I'm full of determination at the moment; hope it lasts into February!

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  2. These are great goals. You can definitely make them happen! Wishing you all the best for 2016. :-)

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    1. Thanks for your kind wishes Teika. I hope to report lots of success later in the year!

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  3. Good luck with your goals! I'm sure you can get something published this year - maybe even a poem! :)

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    1. I'm hoping that a poem may be the easiest to get published - must be plenty of opportunities to immortalise things with a poem!

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  4. These sound like great goals. I really hear your need to believe in yourself, and you should, you must do somewhat to have come this far, so take courage from that. From my experience, its quite cathartic when you have anxieties about hitting publish, and to go ahead and do it anyway.#whatimwriting xx

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    1. It is that moment of courage that I have lacked so far. I'm hoping that making it part of a set of goals will spur me on. Watch this space!

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  5. Those are some great goals! I think really focussing on the regular writing can make a lot of the other things happen. If you want to share any creative writing with #WhatImwriting we're a supportive lot. We've also done a bit of beta reading for each other within the group. Are you on facebook? If so, would you like to join our FB group? It's a private place to discuss and share which sometimes feels less scary than blogging it! Thanks for linking up! xxx

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    1. Thanks for all your support Maddy. It's lovely people like you that make it easier for fledgling writers like me to grow and gain confidence. Thanks for the invite to the FB group - will have to look for you soon!

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  6. Go for it! You could check out Mslexia for opportunities to publish some of your work - it has regular submission slots for short and longer pieces of writing and loads of information about competitions. Good luck with it all.

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    1. Thanks for commenting Rebecca. I'm certainly going to check out Mslexia; might just have the opportunities I'm looking for.

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  7. Great goals to work towards, and all very achievable! Getting published is definitely not pie in the sky, you can do it! Good luck with it all, I will enjoy following your progress.

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    1. I'm certainly hoping that these goals are achievable Lauren! Thanks for your kind wishes; keep watching to see how I get on.

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  8. These are great goals, I may have to join you in aspiring to a few of them myself! They are also very achievable, and I'm really looking forward to seeing where they take you. Here's to a wonderful 2016 xx

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    1. Thanks Sara! Feel free to steal all you want! I'm excited to see where I go with my writing this year too, I feel now is the time to take it a little more seriously and I feel really focused on the challenge, so watch this space...

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  9. Sounds like an excellent selection of goals - each achievable on their own, but together pretty impressive! Good luck, and happy new year :)

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    1. I'm hoping that breaking it all down makes it manageable, Sophie. It feels really exciting and a bit scary too!

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  10. I say go for it, on all of those things. Last year I signed up to do 100K in 100 days. You don't officially sign up, but you aim to write on a regular basis and it's a way of keeping you going. There is a Facebook group you can join. Although it started 1st Jan, I don't think it would be too late to join in.

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