Goal-Setting For Fiction Writers – SMART Goals

Most writers would not want to meet me at a party.
Here are just a few of the questions I’d hit you with:
What do you write? Books, short stories, poems? What genre do you write in? What subjects or themes do you write about? Why? Who do you want to read your fiction? Do you write for fun, to make a living, or to supplement your income? How much do you want to earn? Do you have a time frame for finishing your story? Are you making progress? How do you know? Is what you want to accomplish even possible?
Why am I grilling you with all these questions? Let me explain with an example.
Let’s say your goal is to write a story. Okay, then go sit down at your computer and type:
“Once upon a time, a boy and girl fell in love. They broke up over a misunderstanding, eventually reconciled, and lived happily ever after. The end.”
Goal achieved, right? Technically, yes. But that’s not really what you meant by writing a story, is it?
Before you can ever hope to accomplish your writing goals, you must know in detail what those goals are in the first place.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals for Fiction Writers
The S.M.A.R.T. goal-setting technique is popular because of its simplicity and power. Clarify your goals according to the following criteria:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Results-oriented
Time-bound
Let’s give it a try with the goal of “writing a story.”
Specific: What length–short story, novella, novel, trilogy? What genre? What voice–first-person, third-person, limited, omniscient?
Measurable: How will you track your progress? Page count? Word count? Number of plot twists?
Achievable: How big is this challenge for you? Have you ever done anything like it before? Has anyone else? Yes, there’s always someone who’s first, and you may be that person, but make sure you know that’s the kind of goal you’re setting before you get started.
Results-oriented: What results do you want? To be published or have it read by friends? Do you want to become famous? To make money? To spread your message and change the world? A book deal? Interviews on talk shows? To sit on a panel with your favorite author?
Time-bound: By what date do you want to be finished?
Vague goal: Write a story.
SMART Goal: Write a 90,000 word first-person hard science fiction novel at a pace of 1000 words a day for 90 days. Revise and complete the final draft by 6 months from today. Mail to 20 publishers and sign a 3 book deal for $200,000 by 1 year from today.
It’s important to note that with any goal, especially in a creative field like writing, the details will change as you progress. Goal setting is not about stubbornness. It’s about clarity. The more clarity you have from the very start, the more you can invite spontaneity and creativity into the process. New ideas can be measured against the original plan and explored as a conscious choice. And isn’t choice your greatest power as a writer?
Setting clear SMART Goals will not only increase your power as a writer, it will improve the quality and quantity of your writing.