How to Turn Writing Dreams into Writing Goals

As the year draws to a close, it’s a good idea to prepare for the year ahead. This post will help you turn fuzzy ideas and wishful dreams into a more actionable writing strategy for the year ahead.

To create next year’s writing strategy, begin by answering this simple question—Why do you write?

Step One: Know your why

Open your journal or get a blank piece of paper and free write about why you write. Just write anything that comes into your head. Don’t stop to think or correct. No editing. No wordsmithing. Keep your pen or pencil moving until you fill the whole page (or more than one page if you’re on a roll).

When you’re finished, read through what you wrote and highlight the key concepts that capture your most honest answer. On a fresh page, summarize the most important reasons you write. This motivation will inform the rest of your writing strategy.

Step Two: Clarify your vision

Considering your writing motivations from step one, answer the question, “What is my vision for this time next year?” If you could look back at the end of next year and see that you’ve been successful at furthering your writing dreams, what are the key areas of growth or achievement that you would have accomplished?

Or, to look at it another way, imagine what you would love to accomplish by the end of next year. Describe the main things you’d like to finish, master, or figure out.  

Defining your vision will give you something to shoot for. If you lack a concrete vision, it’s much more difficult to make progress or prioritize your goals.

Step Three: Where are you now?

Before creating writing goals for the coming year, you need to know where you’re starting from. So, where are you now in your writing journey?

Reflect on what you’ve accomplished this past year.

• What important skills or lessons have you learned?
• Have you taken a scary step forward?
• What writing goals have you achieved?
• What projects are still a work in progress (but progressing)?
• How have you held firm to your key writing motivations?

Take a minute to congratulate yourself on the progress you have made. It’s important to pay attention to the milestones along the way if we want to stay motivated to accomplish our big writing dreams.

Next reflect on the main disappointments of the past year.

• What hasn’t progressed like you’d hoped?
• What didn’t work so well?
• How can you pivot from that disappointment?
• How have you strayed from your key writing motivations?

Step Four: Make intentional and realistic writing goals

Finally, it’s time to craft your writing goals. Use the information in the first three steps to create goals that will help you get from where you are now to where you’d love to be by the end of next year.

When crafting your writing goals, consider these factors.

• They should stretch you or challenge you.
• But they must also be realistic, not so far from where you are now that you’ll never meet them.
• Goals are based on outcomes you can control (and there’s an awful lot you can’t control). They should be focused on your efforts, not the hoped-for results of those efforts.
• They should specific enough and clear enough that you can tell when you’ve achieved them.
• Finally, they should include a deadline.

Examples of writing goals

Example 1: I want to make the New Your Times Bestseller list. This is not a good goal. Why? This statement doesn’t include a date and it’s probably not realistic. The primary problem, however, is that you cannot control the outcome. Even if your book sells really well, it may not be selected for the list.

Example 2: I want my new book to hit the top ten bestseller status in an Amazon category by June 30. This goal is better. It includes a date, it’s easy to see whether you succeed or not, and it’s potentially within the realm of possibility. You still can’t fully control this outcome, but you can hire experts or follow their proven strategies to make it a potentially achievable goal.

Example 3: I will finish a revised version of my next book manuscript by May 1. This goal is specific and is based on an outcome you can control. It has a deadline, and success is reasonably clear. (Finish is a little vague, but if you aren’t prone to fussing over a manuscript forever, it might suffice.)    

May you have success meeting your writing goals for 2023!

I hope you will take some time in the next few weeks to think through these steps and come up with some specific writing goals that will help you achieve your writing dreams.

Lisa E. Betz is an engineer-turned-mystery-writer, entertaining speaker, and unconventional soul. She inspires others to become their best selves, living with authenticity, and purpose, and she infuses her novels with unconventional characters who thrive on solving tricky problems. Her Livia Aemilia Mysteries, set in first-century Rome, have won several awards, including the Golden Scroll Novel of the Year (2021).

She and her husband reside outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with Scallywag, their rambunctious cat—the inspiration for Nemesis, resident mischief maker in her novels. Lisa directs church dramas, hikes the beautiful Pennsylvania woods, eats too much chocolate, and experiments with ancient Roman recipes. Visit www.lisaebetz.com.