• Read this: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?288931-Guidelines-for-Participation-in-Outwitting-Writer-s-Block

    before you post.

Writing Goals Per Week?

Brickcommajason

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 4, 2012
Messages
150
Reaction score
13



Question for the council:

Do you set writing goals for you each week? How much? In what sorts of format (2 hours a day vs. 10 hours per week vs. 10 pages a week vs. a word count, whatever?)

More importantly: what do you do to keep yourself meeting those goals? Is simply setting and writing down those goals sufficient?
 

Yandiel

Registered
Joined
Apr 14, 2018
Messages
14
Reaction score
1
Location
Florida
I don't know what you mean by council :poke: ... but I'll respond to this since I just recently got back into my writing from taking a very long break.

I told myself that I wanted to finish a current project/novel of mine which I had been working on for many years off and on. So, I decided, the other day, to try and find some critique partners, to help me along and give myself goals. I don't care if they read my chapter or not, now mind you, I asked for critique partners on a subreddit and who are known to be unreliable with actually "reading" what you give them. What I care about is passing to them completed chapters. So I know if I don't have chapter 5, I better write it because it needs to be critiqued.

But I broke this concept the other day, because I need to rework chapter 1, so I have been focusing on some elements of that.
 
Last edited:

Ed8350

Registered
Joined
Apr 17, 2018
Messages
24
Reaction score
0
I literally write every day. Either a small bit or a larger bit but I just do it. I try not to look at it as a 'goal' either because I feel like it puts pressure on me. I just do it. It's easier, for me at least, that way.
 

DanMorrison

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 12, 2018
Messages
76
Reaction score
12
Location
Dallas TX
There is a thread over on the Goals and Accomplishments subforum for each month. A bunch of us start with what our goals are for the month (daily time or word count or monthly word count, # of pages, whatever you want) and then we check in each day with our progress. Sometimes we hit the goal sometimes we don't. Sometimes we realize we actually have a different goal that what we thought.

I've been doing it for the last couple of months and have found it extremely helpful. For one, it keeps me accountable and motivated, I like going on and saying that I hit my goal. Two, it's a great way to see that we're all fallible, and not everyone hits their goals every day, and that it's okay to take a mental refresh every once and a while. And perhaps most importantly, three, I get to see that there are other writers out there who experience the same joy and struggles of writing that I do.
 

cool pop

It's Cool, Miss Pop if You're Nasty
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 20, 2009
Messages
660
Reaction score
131
Location
Texas
I don't set my goals in terms of work count or chapter count by day or whatever. I set mine in terms of projects. If I am writing a new project (I write fast) it usually takes me two weeks to write a novel so I will set a time to start and then I vow to work on it everyday until I am done. After I am done writing a project, I always have something else already finished so I start editing that project while the other I just finished stews. Sometimes I write one book while editing another but I usually work on one project at a time.

I also take breaks now because I used to never take breaks and you get burned out if you don't. Taking breaks rejuvenates my mind.

I set a publishing schedule by picking the months I want to release. I don't like to go more than two months without a release so I make a schedule of when I plan to publish each project.

Like this week I have been doing edits on an August release. I am doing final edits now and I hope to get it up at the retailers for pre-order next week.
 
Last edited:

insolentlad

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 6, 2017
Messages
107
Reaction score
14
Location
Florida Panhandle
Website
insolentlad.com
I quit setting goals. If I didn't meet them, I felt I was 'failing' as a writer. Anyway, I'm the sort who thinks about things for days on end without actually writing any narrative and then sits down and writes all day, churning out several thousand words. Works for me. Probably doesn't work for a lot of folks.
 

ReadWriteRachel

Probably drinking coffee.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 18, 2013
Messages
271
Reaction score
18
Location
Hands on the keyboard.
I think why I always burn out on NaNo is because I don't like the idea of "failing" if I haven't written at least 1,667 words (and no less!) per day. Rigid writing timetables and word counts always make the fun and excitement evaporate for me. I write first drafts fairly fast, within three or four months, but at that pace I don't set a right or wrong amount of words per day. I just try and write something every day so my idea stays fresh, but that could be 150 words or 1,500.
 
Last edited:

Hunt & Peck

Registered
Joined
May 2, 2018
Messages
42
Reaction score
5
Location
Indiana
I'm not on the council...do they have cookies? Oh well...I'll still add my 2 cents...

I don't subscribe to a word count requirement, or number of hours contributed to a piece of work mandate. If I was to do that, it would turn writing into a job more so than an adventure. And for me, writing is certainly an adventure, and I'd like to keep it that way. Plus, I don't think writing should be forced. I still have goals I'd like to complete in certain timeframes, but those timeframes are a bit loose. They're more monthly, even seasonally, since the goals are more broad...title, outline, chapters (not always in that order).

Because of the type of writing I do, I can skip around a bit. For example, I completed parts of the end of one book before I came up with the title or even worked through much of the outline. The other book doesn't necessarily have to be read front to back, but rather a reader can jump around from one chapter to another, non-subsequent, chapter. This allows me to write the chapters, then put them in whatever order I prefer. I like doing it this way because I can work on whatever aspect or part of the book that excites me at the time, which results in me putting out a better product. I don't write non-fiction, so I cannot speak for that genre, but perhaps the same style of writing can be used for that as well?

Anyhow...I would encourage any writer to just have fun with the process, however they choose to go about completing their book(s).
 

Anna Spargo-Ryan

Just pokin' about
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 21, 2012
Messages
1,703
Reaction score
333
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Website
blog.annaspargoryan.com
Mine depend on where I'm at in a project. At the beginning, writing is hard and slow, so 1000 words a week (+ lots of thinking) is good for me. In the middle, I try for 1000 words a day, knowing that writing daily helps me to keep the story straight in my head. At the end, I write and edit and think and draw diagrams, but I also just want it to be over so I tend to write for as many hours as I can.

I do Nano every year and like the pressure to write a lot each day, but I can't sustain it over long periods.
 

CJMatthewson

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 29, 2011
Messages
90
Reaction score
44
Location
Wales
My current goal is 500 words per day, but when I hit that I tend to be invested and want to write more. I know that if I do have a bad day that I can just stop at 500 words though so that's nice, or even not hit my goal one day and hit 1000 the next. I struggle with NaNoWriMo because the word count is so high that I tend to fall behind very quickly.
 

Emily Patrice

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Messages
86
Reaction score
11
I find the habit of writing is more important that specific writing targets. Get into the habit of writing every day -- 100 words or 10,000, doesn't matter.

I heard Jerry Seinfeld had a calendar where he marked every day he wrote something, with a running tally of how many consecutive days he'd written. Once that tally hits 20 or 50 or 100, the number itself becomes a motivating factor -- if you skip even one day, you go back to zero.
 

KayMitch

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 31, 2018
Messages
296
Reaction score
45
Location
Colorado
My only goal is to write everyday. I prefer to get at least one scene done a day, but some of my scenes are very very long, so that doesn't always happen. XD I mean I'm on chapter 4 and have almost 15k words done... so clearly I'm long winded.
 

BonafideDreamer

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Messages
72
Reaction score
3
I try to complete a chapter a week. Attempting to meet wordcount goals never work for me, so I just focus on finishing the chapter.
 

vicky271

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
623
Reaction score
35
No. I tried, but setting goals doesn't work for me :(
 

Cascada

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 11, 2017
Messages
199
Reaction score
24
Location
UK
I don't set writing goals. I have boundless amounts of admiration for those that do, but I cannot do it. At least, not for editing. First draft...maybe. Otherwise, no.

I write when I can write. If I set a goal for 2000 words, those 2000 words might suck, and then I'll have wasted time or created more work for myself because then I'll have to spend time editing the mess.
 

Layla Nahar

Seashell Seller
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 6, 2007
Messages
7,655
Reaction score
913
Location
Seashore
I'm in the camp of wanting avoid the 'I failed' feeling. I've struggled with and still struggle with writer's block. My only expectation of myself is to write *something* everyday (well, six days of seven - I also want to be able to knowingly take a day off - not 'oh I missed it whoops but - today is my day off).

If I only write a sentence, I have *written something*. Generally my smallest production is 1/4 of a handwritten page.
 

screenscope

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 5, 2005
Messages
681
Reaction score
78
Location
Sydney, Australia
I aim to write at least once on the weekend, but I don't worry about word count or other goals or if I don't get a session in due to other commitments. The work progresses and I can write a novel in about a year.

Until I am able to write full time, I don't consider targets important.
 

rosegold

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 10, 2018
Messages
123
Reaction score
10
I was lazy/busy with other things for a while, but I try to write for five hours a day now. I no longer agonize over word count because a lot of it just revising. Once I'm able to focus on my first draft again, that might change, especially if I'm working on two different books at once.
 

Erinell

Registered
Joined
Aug 22, 2018
Messages
44
Reaction score
6
Location
Where ideas and imagination gather
I've tried numeric word count goals and struggled with it -- there's this awful sense of pressure when I come to scenes that just take a lot more work (those involving precise narrative and research) and care than others (like a lot of dialog beats which can add up to hundreds of words in minutes). Since I work from a casual kind of storyboard and know what I plan to do tomorrow, I set a very reasonable goal and feel absolutely marvelous when I reach it.
 

AKWW93

Registered
Joined
Aug 24, 2018
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Location
NorCal
I've been working on understanding and translating my writing process to project management; so, not so much 'goals' as a timeline? I guess I aim for one scene a week, and I schedule all the parts of it. Day 1, map it out in-depth, figure out what needs to be included. Days 2-3 for the first draft of it, very rough. Day 4 to rewrite and make some quick edits, fix plotholes, etc. Days 5-6 for in-depth editing. So that's six days...that leaves me one day a week to spend trouble-shooting the scene if I'm feeling blocked, or to take off if it's going well. I schedule myself some flexibility.

To hold myself to that...well, I've made a google calendar for my writing project to schedule when each step must be done. And the actual work I do in segments. I read about the Pomodoro technique for productivity this week and that seems to be helping me keep on track.
 

OldHat63

Banned
Flounced
Joined
Aug 21, 2018
Messages
404
Reaction score
30
Location
Lost in the woods of TN and prefer it that way
I'm more than a little new to this whole writing thing, so my only real goal at this point is to learn.
When I do write, I tend to go at it as insolentlad up there described: think, ponder, decide... then write like my life depends on it for a while. That "while" could be a couple of hours, or all day and into the night and next morning. There's just no telling how it will go.



O.H.