Today I'm going to write about goals. This can mean a lot of different things so I will explore just a few here. If you have any other ideas please feel free to share them in the comments section.
The first question you need to ask to establish helpful writing goals is, "Where is this going?" In other words, is this thing I'm working on (let's say a novel or piece of short fiction) important enough to give it the chance to live by giving it a destination to make it to in the end? If your writing has no purpose, maybe you shouldn't do it.
Harsh? Maybe, but if you don't care about where it's going then why should I? here are some goals you might consider:
Mechanical Goals.
"Nuts and bolts" may seem boring to you...unless you buy a car that is missing the necessary ones to keep it on the road. Then I'd wager you'd be very interested in them. The same is true with writing. If you went to Barnes & Noble or Amazon and purchased a book that was sloppy and undisciplned my guess is that not only would you NOT recommend it to your friends but it might even receive an unfavorable user review online at some point.
1. Word Count - Sometimes the best mechanical goal to maintain is simply production. When I was writing the first draft of "A Ghost of Fire" I had a goal of 1,000-1,500 words a day. Often I would try to smash this goal and would succeed. A good lesson to draw is that sometimes a good mechanical goal can help you to excel beyond it.
2. Outline - I'll probably talk more in depth about this at some future date. Suffice it to say for now that giving your writing a basic shape, skeleton, or whatever ahead of time can give you an organized and convenient place to hang the rest of your brilliant little words in the near future. Plus creating an outline may cut back on the "overwhelming" factor.
Heart Goals.
Nuts and bolts aren't the "end all" of writing. It doesn't matter where the car goes if there isn't a real live person in the driver seat and/or the passenger seat(s). Or, it doesn't matter how technically perfect or production-based your writing is if you don't care.
1. Write because it's worth it. Write because it motivates your spirit. Write because it's fun. Don't write as if a gun is to your head. Even if you are writing something for school that you don't want to write about FIND SOMETHING about it to enjoy. Complaining is a choice. Period.
2. Don't admit defeat. Look, it's just a word processor. You're the thinking, intelligent person, right? Who's the boss? Who's in control? A word processor can't feel. You can. Accept the challenge of writing something and make it big. Mr. Pell, my business class teacher in High School, said, "Every once in a while you have to throw your mind a T-bone Steak." By that he meant we need a challenge from tim to time to grow.
That's my two cents for today. I hope it helps.
Sam.
For more info on my stuff:
My Website http://samwhittaker.webstarts.com/
My book's facebook page http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/A-Ghost-of-Fire/113144592112247
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