Setting Goals

Without goals, I get nothing done. Not even simple things, like cooking dinner. When it came to writing my first novel, I set a date--six months to finish the first draft. I achieved that goal and many others during the same six-month period. Whatever I'm working on, I have to give myself a deadline. If things come up, I adjust, but I try to stick close to the original goal.

This month my goal is to finish the final revision of my Work-In-Progress so that I can send it out to my beta readers for critique. Once that's done, I have the goal of finishing the first draft of my MG novel. I haven't set a date for completing that yet, but will do so as soon as I get started. Since November is NaNoWriMo, perhaps I'll set the goal to get it done by the end of November. Hmmm...

When it comes to submissions, I also have to set goals. Queries are the easiest thing for me to put off since it takes great courage and discipline to push that send button. Manuscript requests in the Inbox are my payoff.

What about you? Do you set writing goals? Do you reach them?

WHAT I'M READING THIS WEEK: Atonement (Ian McEwan) Hattie Big Sky (Kirby Larson)