Writing Goals Revisited – When a plan isn’t working change it!

Writing goals for me are essential to have a point to aim for.  Two years ago I started writing my first solo book and I set out the following goals:

• Write a minimum of 1000 words every day. Have a maximum of 2 days off writing a week i.e. produce a minimum of 5000 words a week. 
• Write 3 Novellas this year (2018)
• Publish all three on indie author platforms. Amazon Kindle, Kobo and Smashwords with the three novellas plus a box set of the three
• Continue to write at least three Novellas a year in 2019 onward

OK – very ambitious and not achieved.  Why?  Because of a number of things that took their toll.  Work (normal 9-5 job) became very busy which is no excuse really but did have a major effect.  The main problem was the writing process I had set myself which seemed reasonable at the time – to write a minimum of 5000 words a week.

Word count became the main focus and started to put unseen pressure on the creative aspects of my writing. As I wasn’t focussing on this the other goals fell by the wayside. Although I have written a substantial amount, 78,000 words for the first solo book, and another 35,000 words across several short stories,  my original goals were not reached.

New Writing goals for the remainder of 2020

As someone once said – If Plan A fails there is still another 25 letters in the alphabet!

So here are my new writing goals to be completed this year:

• Finish the first book to first draft
• Build a list of beta readers
• Self edit the first book and send out to beta readers
• Self edit the beta feedback
• Get the book professionally edited and make the necessary revisions
• Three short stories I have currently finished to first draft to be self-edited and sent to beta readers
• Self edit the beta feedback
• Make a decision whether to publish in one book or sell each short story separately and make one a free lead magnet
• Continue to write more short stories in the same genre
•  Take the next available Mark Dawson 101 writers course which will help with book promotion and all aspects of self-publishing (I would have done this already had I realised it’s value!)
• Build a mailing list on this web site and look at advertising to find people who will sign up.
• Publish the short story (or short stories if I decide to publish individually) then the main book, making at least one short story free or low-cost 99c/99p to provide a channel to the main book
• Write the second book to first draft – I have half-written a short story that has more than enough legs to make a great book-length.
• Take Christmas day off LOL

Plan B is quite Quite a list and reasonably ambitious as I set this out on 13th May 2020 right in the middle of Corvid-19 Lockdown here in sunny South Wales UK. 

I have broken it down quite considerably so that I will see progress. I need to get this moving and a start in self-publishing.  It would be really nice to look back at plan B in 12 months and feel satisfied that everything (and maybe more) had been achieved.

To be reviewed!

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