Tag: writing goals

Life is choices. It’s that simple. It is the little choices we make each day that shape our lives. While we have different struggles and concerns, at the end of the day, we decide what actions we will take to overcome the obstacles before us.

Like many other writers, writing isn’t my day job. While I have a good job, it doesn’t feed my creative side. You might be able to relate. In a perfect world, I’d be sitting at my desk writing novels instead of typing log notes.

I was on Facebook the other day when I came across a video of Denzel Washington talking to a group of students. (Here’s the link if your interested in viewing: http://youtu.be/O0mUqEa7XnM ) He talked about dreams and goals, discipline and consistency.  These are some of the same things we’ve probably all said to our children – maybe not in the same words – but with the same intents.

I wondered why I haven’t been applying this to my dream of being a full-time writer.  And I think I know the answer – I lacked discipline.  The choices I was making reflected this.

I looked at my writing space. Unlike my desk at work, my “writing” area wasn’t  organized.  I had notes laying haphazardly around.  Nothing was easy to find.  This was a problem.  If I could stay organized for my day job, then certainly,  my dream job deserved the same level of professionalism.

 

My day job requires that I work from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, five days a week, for a total of forty hours.  Like you, I come home, cook dinner and do a variety of other things. I might sit down and watch a television, maybe do a little social media stuff – stop by a google + community, spend a little time on twitter, etc. The thing is nothing was set in stone, not like my day job.  This was an area I needed to improve. I worked out a schedule that limited the amount of time I was being “social,” included a period for exercise, and allotted time to work on my WIP.

I decided I needed to set some goals in regards to my latest story:  things like a weekly word count and an estimated time to completion.  With a completion date selected, I’m more consistent with my writing because I’m focused on my goal.

So, this is what’s been going on with me.  I’m always looking for ideas for better utilizing my time.  If you have any tips, please feel free to share.