I have made many friends through the online writing community who I really cherish. Many of them have provided unique guidance and tips on writing and getting published as I venture into the rough world of writing and querying. One of the things I get complemented on frequently is my seeming ability to “get a lot done.” I thought I return the favor by doing a blog post to share some of the goal setting and time management skills I have learned over the years as a technician and engineer, because they have really carried over to my writing.
Goals
One of the things I notice when I look around our writing community is a lack of solid goals. I see many people setting really vague goals like:
- I want to write a book
- I want to get published
- I want to sell a lot of books
Think that is fantastic, I really do. It is a great first step. One of the things I have learned over the years is the SMART method of goal setting. For those of you who have never heard of it, there are plenty of resources available. I have included a link to one below:
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/smart-goal/
SMART is an acronym standing for:
- S-Specific
- M-Measurable
- A-Achievable
- R-Realistic
- T-Timely
A goal of “I want to publish a book” is vague because:
- It is not specific. What kind of book? Do you plan on writing in more than one genre? Why do you want to write this book (more on this later)
- It is somewhat measurable, but still lacks definition. Are you content with indie publishing? Do you plan to self-publish? Or is it traditional publishing or nothing for you?
- Achievability starts to fall apart unless you have defined the first two.
- I’m about to hit at a sore spot for some in the realism category…many want to be the unicorn, the one that submits their manuscript on the first try and instantly has 3 agents/publishers vying for it. Yes it could happen, but from what I have seen it can be a long, discouraging process that may have NOTHING to do with the quality of your work. Are you ready to pull your manuscript back and edit/shelve it in favor of another project?
- There is no time bound set on this goal. A better goal would be to state, I plan to have a 1st draft done in X amount of time, and start the querying process by X date, etc.
Motivation
It is difficult to manage your time if you don’t know what goal you are trying to achieve and even more importantly, WHY you are trying to achieve it. When things start to get tough, it is easy to get derailed when you don’t have solid motivation behind your efforts.
Think about your characters in your stories. It is important for the reader to understand their motivations in order to have a great plot that doesn’t seem forced. The same applies to our own lives.
Social Media and Procrastination
This could practically be a blog post all on its own. There are actually many out there, and I constantly see people on Social Media complaining about distractions while they procrastinate.
I really can’t blame them.
We live and work in an era where everything is out to steal your time and attention. In fact, the inventors of social media dedicate segments of their business to try to engage you and keep you glued to your device and constantly coming back for more. Without solid goals in mind, it is easy to fritter away hours mindlessly, and end up with nothing to show for it. I think this is where goal setting comes into play.
See this great article from IEEE Spectrum about the science of attention theft
https://spectrum.ieee.org/consumer-electronics/portable-devices/stop-attention-thief
Personal Goals
I knew once I got my bachelor’s in electrical engineering that I would progress to getting my Professional Engineering License, and then a Master’s Degree. But I did not really have a solid reason why other than the vague, polite answer, “It’s for my professional development.”
I started taking classes through WPI’s online master’s Program. I attended from 2013-2014, then admittedly I stalled out due to both a head injury and frustration. I remember sitting in my office alone at 2 am (my shift started at 6am) staring at a problem I couldn’t figure out, and asking myself:
- Why was I doing this to myself?
- What was the point?
- What was I trying to accomplish here?
I was working long hours, making good money anyway. I had set a goal of getting this degree, but I had no real idea why. I was incredibly unhappy at work to boot. I was rudderless and wanting to quit
Then I came across a great article in 2015. One was an excerpt from a book by Lewis Howes called the School of Greatness. It walked you through an exercise called “The Perfect Day Itinerary.” You write in detail what your perfect day would look like. Then you write up your itinerary for that perfect day. Then you analyze how you would set goals to get to that perfect day. For the sake of brevity, I won’t share my own “perfect day” here, maybe in another blog, but it gave me the ah-ha moment I needed to re-start my classes for my master’s program and get moving again. I could see what I needed to do, and why I needed to do it.
I included a link to Lewis Howes “Perfect Day Itinerary” for those of you who are curious
https://lewishowes.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Perfect-Day-Itinerary-PDI.pdf
Life Purpose
Another great resource was from author/writer/blogger Mark Manson. His article 7 Strange Questions to Help Yourself Find Your Life Purpose
I think my favorite question was #1:
What is your favorite flavor of sh-t sandwich, and does it come with an olive?
Mark Manson-7 Strange Questions to Help You Find Your Life Purpose
And Manson sums it up beautifully. Everything comes with a cost, and nothing is great all the time. As a writer, you’re going to get harsh criticism. You’re going to get piles of rejections. People will troll you just for the fun of it, leaving 1-star reviews even though they never read your book.
The bigger question is what makes your end goal worth it? Is it holding your book in your hand? Is it having your mom gush over the dedication at the front? Is it the awesome review from a stranger that said what you wrote spoke to them?
Then you have found your olive. Enjoy it my friend.
The rest of the questions were equally great, but I will leave it up to you to read the blog. Trust me, it’s worth it.
Thanks for reading. I’m proud to say my hard work paid off, and my Alaskan horror novella, The Dark Land about legendary creatures stalking the backcountry of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is available on Amazon. Sign up for my newsletter for sneak peeks at the sequel and other works in progress. I promise I won’t SPAM (even though we do like our SPAM here in Alaska!, #2 consumer after Hawaii).
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