Clear Daily Goals Equals Forward Movement

Being a professional writer means meeting deadlines. For so many authors, they are still in the casual writing stage of their life. It is simply a hobby. You write when you want to. You stop when you want to. But that cannot happen if you have editors waiting on you. This cannot happen if you have readers begging for that next book in your series.

I see a lot of authors who set long term goals such as when they plan on having their book finished. "I'll have this finished at the end of September." While this is a great start, it is not enough. Writers need to focus on smaller goals and smaller benchmarks.

For myself, the first thing I do every morning is create a to do list for myself. I am VERY clear as to what needs to get done. For example, I don't just say "clean house" but list each room that needs to get done and what has to happen in each room. Writers need to do the same thing.

But we are going to take this a step further. You need to create benchmarks for yourself so you know if you are on track.

Let's create a scenario.

Julie Smith (made up name) is getting ready to write for the week. She knows this will be a busy week with her daily job and the kids getting to activities. Sunday night, she makes a list.

• Monday
• Chapter 13 needs to get written. She knows she has a 3 hour window to write when her daughter is at gymnastics. 
• Tuesday
• Busy day so Chapter 14 will be divided into 2 days (this is also a tough chapter with some major character reveals. First 1/2 on Tuesday. Only a 2 hour window today
• Wednesday
• Finish Chapter 14 and outline chapter 15. Back to a 3 hour window but it should go well based on the work from Tuesday
• Thursday
• Chapter 15 today. Gymnastics day is always great with a 3 hour writing window. Meeting in the morning with her colleague at work but this can be done from home. 
• Friday
• Could be a tough day. Daughter is heading out for the weekend so afternoon spent packing and getting her to her friends house. Once out, Julie should have 2 hours to write but no promises. House did get messy this weekend. Goal first 1/2 of chapter 16.

I know some of you are thinking this is crazy, but it works. The other reason it works is that Julie thinks through her notes for the next day each evening. In other words, she has semi-planned out Chapter 14 on Monday night. Now, here is where she creates her benchmarks.

Each day of writing, Julie knows how much she needs to get written. She knows each chapter will be around 15-18 pages. With that in mind, she creates smaller deadlines for herself. Since she only has 2-3 hours to write, she creates goals of where she needs to be every 30 minutes. This does 2 things. First it creates a smaller and more manageable deadline. Secondly, it creates a reward system for her. If she sees she is ahead of schedule, she can reward herself with a quick walk around the neighborhood, a cookie snack, or something else.

Just saying you are going to write something today about something is far too vague. Be specific.