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Getting There - Five Tips For Meeting Your Writing Goals by Juan Griffin
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Getting There - Five Tips For Meeting Your Writing Goals |
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Education
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Do you want to be a novelist, but can't seem to find the time to actually write that book you've been thinking about for the past decade? Or maybe you want to increase your business by starting an article marketing campaign, but never seem to be able to put down paying client work to market yourself. Don't worry-every writer struggles with these problems. Here are five solutions that might just get you moving toward your writing goals. Define your goals clearly. Are your goals easy to measure? Or are they vague and subjective? Let's face it, we'd all like to be "better" writers or write a best-selling novel-but that's not really an effective goal. An effective goal is something you can measure and control: you'll write five online articles each week, 500 words of your novel every day, or join a writing class or workshop by the end of the month. If you can write a concrete list and check it off as you go, you'll gain satisfaction and a feeling of success with each step you take. Set realistic goals. Are you sabotaging yourself by setting goals that are too lofty? This is common, especially among high-achieving people. Writing ten pages of your novel every day might sound like a great way to get things done, but you'll only be able to do it if you have nothing else to do that day-and many career novelists don't work that fast. You won't meet that goal, and then you're likely to get discouraged and quit. Instead, take the opposite tack. Set an easy, achievable goal, and then stick to it. Write a paragraph per day. Choose a goal that seems too easy. This way, when you have a busy day and you don't feel like writing, you won't feel daunted by your own goal. "It's no big deal, it's just a paragraph," you'll think. Chances are, you might get inspired while writing your obligatory paragraph-and end up writing ten pages. But if you don't, it's fine-at least you're writing something every day. Get away from distractions. When you hit a snag, do you turn on the television, surf the net or check your email? If so, you could be killing your productivity. Choose a place to write that isolates you from distractions. Turn off your cell phone. Go where you don't get wireless reception. Shut the door and tell your family to leave you alone for an hour. Eliminate distractions, and you'll be able to work through your blocks and become engrossed in your writing. Get support. Do you have a friend who's a writer? If so, join forces. Set up goals together, and then check in with each other. Show each other your writing, and be supportive and positive. If you have someone to answer to about your goals, you're more likely to follow through. Know what works for you. There's plenty of advice out there that doesn't work for everybody. Plenty of writers say they get up early to write-but if you can't manage to focus at five in the morning, don't try. Others use writing journals, write everything longhand in a notebook, or use other techniques that are unique to them. It's interesting to hear about other writers' methods, but they won't necessarily work for you. Do it long enough, and you'll find your own ways to keep yourself inspired and focused. If you don't meet your goal, don't let it stop you. It's easy to get discouraged if you miss your goals. But we all do it. Don't let an unproductive week make you think you aren't cut out for the writing life. You are-you have the desire and passion to write. Take unproductive periods in stride, and get back into your routine as soon as you can. Meeting a grand goal is impossible without setting small, achievable goals along the way. You may want to write a hundred online articles or a 400-page novel, but it's easy to get daunted by such big goals. Instead, break big dreams into small steps. Take a step each day, allow yourself time to rest, and don't get discouraged-and you're sure to meet your writing goals. article submission sites
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