As a freelance writer or author, you probably set goals, meet them and set new ones several times throughout the year. Or maybe you casually consider setting goals and then never realize fulfillment. Well, here is your opportunity to get it right. The turning of the twelve-month calendar signals the traditional time for goal-setting or resolution-making.
What are your writing/publishing-related goals for 2006? Will you finally finish that book? Are you ready to start thinking about quitting your job and writing fulltime? Maybe this is the year you will try to hit the 1000 mark with book sales or double your freelance writing income. Perhaps your goal reflects a lifelong dream to be published in Woman’s Day Magazine (Reader’s Digest, Playboy, The Smithsonian) or to land one of the major publishers for your novel. Whether you want to write your first novel or children’s book or hit the big time with the book you wrote ten years ago, there’s more to success than just wishing for it.
The first step in reaching your goal is to commit to making it happen. If you’ve never met one of your goals or realized one of your resolutions, maybe it’s because you didn’t make anything resembling a real commitment to accomplishing it.
Secondly, draw up a plan. Uh oh, am I starting to lose some of you? I clearly heard one of you say, “What? I actually have to participate in making this happen?†Yes, you do. Your success is completely up to you. If and when you reach your goal, it is solely because you took the steps necessary—you drove the bus that took you from point A to point Z. But this also means that if you didn’t meet your goal, it was either because you didn’t fight hard enough for it or you set an unrealistic goal.
Your plan includes the actual steps and sacrifices (yes, I said “sacrificesâ€) that you believe it will take in order to reach your goal. Let’s say that you want to write a novel this year. What is a logical first step? Some of you will say to start writing. And this is a big beginning step. But it might be necessary first to rearrange your schedule in order to make time to write and this, often, takes some sacrifice. If you’ve read my book, The Successful Writer’s Handbook, you know my take on this concept. http://www.matilijapress.com/writershandbookpage.html
Remove all blocks, stops and obstacles that have been getting in your way all of these years or you’ll fail in your attempt to write that novel AGAIN this year. This might mean, cut back on your hours at work, stop watching so much TV, stay up an hour later at night or get up an hour or so earlier in the morning. And then earmark this extra time for writing. This is how you make a commitment. You make the time to write and then you sit down during that time period each day and actually write. Dedicate yourself to your goal and you will come closer to achieving it.
If your goal is to write a book for publication, your plan must include research and study. In order to be successful, you have to understand the publishing industry and the ramifications of your choices within the industry. To this end, I highly recommend that you read my latest book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.com
Happy New Year. I’d love to hear from you as you launch on your journey of setting, working toward and meeting your goals for 2006.