Lee Murray - Goal Setting: A Writers Guide

Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. Pablo Picasso

Anything complex requires planning. As I write this introduction, my daughter is planning her wedding. Our kitchen table is covered in lists of friends and family to invite, photographers to contact, menu plans, invitation options, dress websites, and decorative choices. There is a lot to consider, and even with thoughtful planning, my daughter and her partner could still encounter problems. Weve all seen the movies featuring wedding disasters: outdoor events conducted in the rain with dainty heels sinking in mud, flat tyres, delayed planes and other transport hiccups, hair fails, ketchup-stained dresses, feuding guests, double booked venues, and brides with cold feet. Any number of things might happen. But careful planning should allow our daughter and her partner to bring together the necessary expertise, and also identify contingencies, so they get the wedding they want, and a magical start to their future life together.

The same principle should apply to your literary career. Just as we wouldnt dream of holding a wedding without a plan, a great literary career also requires thoughtful planning. As Benjamin Franklin so famously said, By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. There are plenty of failed writers. This workbook will help you avoid that calamity, providing a simple template for you to establish a set of customised fit-to-purpose literary goals. It takes just an hour or two to complete, and if carried out diligently, it should set you on a path to success, as it applies to you. Using this planner should also prevent you wasting time on roads that dont lead to your desired destination, because as philosopher Yogi Berra so rightly said, If you dont know where you are going, youll end up someplace else.

Why should you believe me? Ive presented this template to various writers and writers groups (both locally and internationally) over a number of years, and the feedback Ive received suggests this system works. Authors, including award-winning and bestselling authors, who have used this little template have gone on to achieve literary success, some repeating this exercise more than once. More importantly, I have used this system for more than a decade and have found it to be a valuable tool for progressing my own literary career, helping me to become a multi-award-winning author of more than a dozen novels, two collections, sixteen anthologies, and more than seventy published novellas, short stories, and poems, as well as allowing me to serve the writing community as a literary judge, conference convenor, manuscript assessor, commissioning editor, and mentor. Using this chapbook as a template, theres no reason why you couldnt also achieve your version of literary success.

Goal Setting (Literally) offers targeted questions to help you determine what literary success means to you, and the steps you might undertake to achieve that vision. It takes just an hour or two to complete, which means you are only an afternoon away from creating a concrete record of your literary plan for the coming year and beyond, including practical, actionable, flexible goals to set you on the road to becoming the writer you want to be. As YA fantasy author, Sharon Manssen (The Realm Trilogy), states, completing this little workbook might just be the most productive hour you spend all year.

Since your goals are personal to you, aim to complete each section of this chapbook on your own. However, consider getting together with a group of friends or colleagues and share your answers, as other peoples reflections can be insightful. A robust discussion can help you to focus on what success looks like for you, identify any barriers and possible solutions, and develop targeted practical goals. Being willing to share your commitment with others can also help keep you accountable as you work towards your dream.

So, lets jump in.

From baking to basket weaving, batik to ballet, there are any number of creative activities we might engage in. So why choose writing? When I asked this question at my local writers group, the answers were varied. We write for myriad reasons, including to engage, inform, and entertain readers. Reader response was another important motivation, and several authors said they wrote for the spontaneous joyous feedback they received from children. Theres nothing like learning youre a childs favourite author or opening the post to discover a crayon drawing from a tiny fan reader. Inspiring a love of story and reading is a magical feeling, as is keeping someone up all night reading. Or offering an escape from the everyday. One emerging writer in our group mentioned a teacher whod insisted shed never amount to much, and whom she was now hell bent on proving wrong. Clearly, revenge can be a strong motivation! Several people cited gaining the approval or respect of a parent, grandparent, mentor, or a child as a key impetus. One person said they liked the opportunity to add new skills. Professional writers needed to make money from their work. Sometimes, were trying to improve our skills, so we can write better communications in our day jobs, or in our personal life.

Other reasons included: I cant help it; for my wellbeing; to have a voice; to record family memories for posterity; to write the stories I want to read; or tell the story Im burning to tell. All of these reasons are valid.

Why do you choose to write? List ALL the reasons. Nothing is too ridiculous.

This question often surprises, but literary success means different things for different people. If your reasons for writing include fame and fortune then, for you, signing a book-to-film contract might represent the ultimate in literary success. Or perhaps youd like to see an orange Amazon bestseller banner associated with your book. You might dream of snagging a high-profile literary agent, or a large advance. An invitation to speak at a literary event. A story commission by a top editor.

On the other hand, if youre an emerging writer, literary success might be as simple as having a colleague introduce you as a writer in a social group or event. You might have mastered a new writing technique, tried your hand at a new form, uncovered a good research site or tool, or discovered how to use the editing tools in Word. Success might have been as small as coming up with a good title for a piece of writing, learning to format your work like a professional, or pressing SUBMIT on a piece for publication.