Goal Setting For Writers

Wow. I remember when I first started writing. I wish I'd known then what I know now! But don't worry - I'm going to tell you what I know now, so you can have a super fast and successful start to your writing career.

I did ok in those early days - a few letters got published in some big magazines, I got the odd article accepted here and there in some low profile magazines, and one or two short stories received publication and a few complimentary copies.

But as I say, I wish I'd known then what I know now. I was doing ok, but I was aimless. I had no real direction to go in. If I felt particularly inspired, I might write a couple of articles in one day; I remember once writing three in a single day and getting every single one published. But then I'd bask in the glory of my success for weeks... and it was ages before I summoned the muse to write again.

This is a real stumbling block for the newbie writer. If you have real ambitions as a writer - if you want to get published (and paid for), and you have a list of magazines tucked safely under your pillow that you dream about getting published in someday... you need a plan. You need a goal.

This is something I never realised until a few years ago. You can be the most talented writer out there; you can be the next John Grisham, the next JK Rowling, or the next Stephen King... but it doesn't matter a jot if you don't have a plan for how you're going to get there.

Goal setting can make the difference between doing okay, and getting a few pieces published here and there, or making a successful, full time career as a writer. Even if you only want to keep your writing in hobby status, setting goals for yourself can mean that hobby brings in several hundred pounds a month extra, and puts your name in several well known magazines every month.

So how do you go about setting goals?

Well the first and most important thing you need to do is to be honest with yourself. Grab a notepad and pen, and settle down in a comfy chair where you won't be disturbed. Ask yourself what you'd really like to achieve with your writing. Be honest - don't neglect to write something down because you don't think you could ever do it, or it's too hard, or you don't think you're good enough. This is like the ‘what would you do if you won the lottery?' question - go all out and dream!

Would you like to write a book? Get a short story in a world famous magazine? What's the one thing you've always wanted to achieve with your writing?

Let's say you want to write and publish your own book. That's a big goal. But you can do it - if you go about it in the right way. That's where goal setting comes in. But you need to know how to do it properly - and for maximum effect.

First of all, write your goal down on a Post-It note. But don't write it as if it's something you want - write it as if it's already happened. So you'd write something like this:

"I am a successful published author, and I make £1000 every month selling copies of my book online and in bookstores."

This might sound a little strange, but it really works! The key is to write your goal down as if you have already achieved it, and then stick the Post-It note where you will see it often - ideally right by your computer screen. By doing this, you will impress the message upon your subconscious, which will get to work for you and start making your dream come true.

Sounds even stranger now, I'll bet! Well, the subconscious is an amazing thing, but you don't really need to understand a great deal about it for this method to work. The simple reason it does work is this - the subconscious cannot tell the difference between what is real and what you tell it is real. Whatever messages you bury into your subconscious, it will make them come true.

Think about it. Have you ever noticed how people who are down on their luck are convinced it's because they're naturally unlucky? And then something bad happens to prove it? And that convinces them even more... and so on, in an ever downward spiral?

And think about someone you've met who always seems to be doing well? They're always optimistic, always looking for the best in every situation... and they always seem to be ‘getting lucky'?

Both these types of people have ultimately created their own surroundings. The person who expects to succeed does exactly that - because they work towards that goal, and their subconscious drives them there. The unlucky person expects to be unlucky because that's what always seems to happen to them - so that's what their subconscious ‘mirrors' back to them.

So get your subconscious working for you, and think about what you would really like to achieve as a writer. I have used this technique for some time now, and I can tell you it's amazing what starts to happen when you trust your subconscious and stick that little Post-It note where you can see it!

A while back, I set a goal to get some e-books published. I wanted to be earning £1000 a month by writing and selling articles and e-books, so I stuck my note on my computer monitor, and I found myself looking at it probably twenty or thirty times a day.

Within a couple of weeks of doing that, my first book was on sale with an online publisher, and I had an agreement with a second publisher to write another one for them. In the same short space of time, I found a website on which I could display and sell my articles (check it out at www.constant-content.com/?aref=5038 - I thoroughly recommend it), and sold a couple within five days of each other. It felt like I'd just ‘got lucky' and stumbled across all this information... but I know it's because my subconscious knew what it needed to do, and went for it like a heat seeking missile!

And all thanks to that Post-It note!

So you can see what's possible. Think about what you'd really like to achieve, and set yourself some goals today. If you follow the technique above, I promise you you'll be celebrating in no time!

Go to it - and enjoy the journey.