WOI Guest Post: 5 Tips for Achieving Your Writing Goals

1. Make your goals achievable.

By achievable, we mean realistic and attainable. You might unconsciously have set a goal even others will have a hard time achieving, even if they had the means and the time to do so.

Here's what you can do: break down your goals into small, realistic goals set against reasonable time frames. Oftentimes, you'll achieve your bigger goals if you work on achieving the smaller goals leading to those. The important thing is that your make your goals as realistic and as achievable as you can.


2. Believe in your abilities.

Success hugely depends on one and only one person -- you. So, do you believe enough in yourself and in what you can do to achieve your goals? Self-doubt is your biggest adversity and the biggest obstacle on your way to success. Is it possible you lost focus of your goals because you have unconsciously set aside having to deal with your self-doubts?


3. Devise a feasible plan.

You know what you want, but do you know how to get what you want? Do you need technical or artistic training to achieve your goals? Or perhaps further studies? Do you have a set plan of action that will lead to the achievement of your goals? What things, both tangible and intangible, do you need to aid you in reaching your goals?

Take a moment to sit down and list the things you need and make your plan of action. This is a good time to break them down into small, realistic goals and then tackle them one day at a time!


4. Resist spreading yourself too thinly.

Sometimes, it's better to work on one goal at a time, rather than doing and shooting for so many all at the same time. Work on so many goals at one given time and you'll find out you're nowhere near achieving even one goal. You won't be able to focus your full energy on one goal.

Prioritize your goals and start with either your top priority or your most realistic goal. You'll discover you're able to do more and achieve more using this approach.


5. Don't be easily disheartened.

Along with believing in your ability to achieve your goals, this is the second most important thing you need to do. Yes, you do the steps necessary to achieve your goals, but after one or two failures, do you give up and stop trying?

Persistence and patience are the keys to achieving your goals and eventually success. Always remember that it's very rare for people to achieve total success or attain their goals on the first try. If they did, there'll be no need to build self-confidence, patience and persistence.

Now that you've read these five tips, start your way to attaining your writing goals today!


Copyright (c) 2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

Taking Baby Steps Every Week Can Yield a Book

The thought of writing a book is usually daunting for many writers. After all, how and where do you begin writing a book that's anywhere from 25,000 to 100,000 words?

Big numbers can be pretty intimidating. But there's a way to get around this. And it's by taking baby steps -- writing one chapter or even 300-500 words at a time.

This is how I wrote my book, WEEKLY WRITES: 52 Weeks of Writing Bliss! Every week for one whole year, I wrote one chapter or module. Each module was only 250 to 500 words. It helped too that as I wrote each module, writers were "testing" it. They did the activities in the module I sent out to them every week.

When I started, I began with an outline for Weekly Writes. This was just so I could see what I was supposed to do every week. An outline doesn't have to be set in stone. Think of an outline as a frame, a guide. It can be modified as you go along. So by the time I'd written chapter/module 52, I realized I had a book ready to show to a publisher or one that I could self-publish and sell the next day.

I didn't intend for Weekly Writes to be a book. I created it as an e-mail course. But when week #52 came around, I knew Weekly Writes could be a book too. I sent a proposal to a publisher and a week later received a note that she wished to review the manuscript. A couple of weeks later, I was offered a contract and given a deadline for submitting the final draft.

It took about 6 weeks to edit and rewrite some chapters. And to make the book even more useful to readers, I invited writers who had taken the e-mail course version to contribute creative pieces they've written as a direct result of doing the writing activities in the course modules.

The result? A *writer-tested* book.

On top of that, I had fun writing it because when I wrote a chapter, I simply wrote. I stuck to writing 250-500 words once a week. One baby step at a time. It was certainly easier to write when I worked with smaller goals (word quota every week).

Perhaps you can try it too. You may have a book 52 weeks from now, even sooner!


Copyright 2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

Shery is the creator of WriteSparks! - a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks! Lite for fr*e - http://writesparks.com

Is Indecision Hindering You From Achieving Your Writing Goals?

Indecision oftentimes hinders us from achieving goals we have set for ourselves. Indecision can cause regrets. How many times have you said to yourself, "If only I..." or "I wish I had..." or "If I only did it another way, then..."

Where there is indecision, there is no resolution. Instead of being convicted to a decision, a stand or a principle, indecision causes us to 'swing' from one side to the other; to take one step forward only to take two steps back.

Indecision breeds reluctance. And where there is reluctance, there is a certain fear -- fear of trying, fear of doing, fear of failing and yes, even fear of succeeding.

This week, you will come face to face with your indecision.

Freewrite for ten to fifteen minutes. Based on your freewrite, go on and craft an essay, story or poem.

~ Monday: Think of something you wanted to do last week but did not do.

    What was it?
    Why did you not act on it?
    What hindered you from doing it?
    How do you feel about not being able to do what you wanted?


~ Tuesday: Now think of something you wanted to do last week and you went ahead and did it.

    What was it?
    Why did you act on it?
    How did you feel after doing it?


~ Wednesday and Thursday: Freewrite using any or all of these prompts:

    1. I remember ten years ago when I ___________, and if I can do it all over again, I would...
    2. One of the things I regret not doing is...
    3. One of the best decisions I've made is...


~ Friday: Brainstorm and list at least five situations you hope you never have to find yourself in. Then, write the courses of action you would take if you do find yourself in those situations.



This article is excerpted from Shery's book, Weekly Writes: 52 Weeks of Writing Bliss! (http://weeklywrites.com). Shery created WriteSparks! - a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks! Lite for fr*e - http://writesparks.com