Set New Year Goals not Resolutions

As New Year approaches, it’s time to make resolutions. We all know these flop, however, so many writers now set goals instead.

What’s the difference? A resolution is a promise to yourself to do or not do something: I will lose weight, I will join the gym, I will swear less, for example. A goal is a specific target: ‘I want to fit into that size 12 dress in time for Auntie’s wedding’ or ‘I want a six-pack’.

Image by ijmaki from Pixabay

Goals work better because they are to a greater or lesser degree SMART—Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Timed. In other words, we know exactly what we want to achieve, when we wish to achieve it, and those around us agree it’s doable.

Let’s say you vow to join a gym and actually do that on January 2nd. Then what? You’ll probably go regularly for a month before attendances tail off. Why does that happen? Because you have no endpoint, something to keep up your motivation. It becomes a thankless chore. But if you’d said: “I will join the gym to take the recommended 150 minutes of aerobic exercise and 2 sessions of strength-building per week and so reduce my heart attack risk.” you will know if you’re hitting that target week by week. On the other hand, it is an open goal. When do you stop? Do you know what your heart attack risk is? Will you inadvertently increase your risk by rewarding yourself after each session by going for coffee (with cream and marshmallows) and cake with friends? So it would be better to be even more specific.

The same goes for writing goals. Vowing (or resolving) to ‘write more’ is doomed to failure because it assumes you know how much you write now, and are you talking about words, hours or finished projects? In other words, how do you measure how much you write? How will you know if you are writing more?

Making your goals SMART brings focus and clarity.

Resolution	Goal
I will write more	I will write 100 words a day at least 5 days a week
I will focus on short stories	I will submit at least 3 short stories this year
I will do NaNoWriMo	I will write 50K during NaNoWriMo having first completed the planning stages on the website so I have a plot to go
I will spend less time on social media	I will disconnect from the internet during my designated writing sessions

the difference between vague resolutions and specific goals

As a result of my SMART(ish) goals last year, I sold two pocket novels and more than paid for my Writer’s Forum sub from published First Draft columns.

One goal failed. I did not find new homes for old stories for three reasons.  First, I have concentrated on writing pocket novels. Second, I stopped writing for several months during lockdown. Third, WOMAG markets contracted: That’s Life Australia stopped publishing fiction and The Weekly News folded. That’s fine. Life happens. Lot’s of people had their plans thwarted this year by a certain virus.

Another goal was so easily achieved it was pointless. I wrote ‘consider a serial for The People’s Friend’. I did that in 2 seconds: ‘Yep, could do, but I won’t.’

My Xmas present planner for 2021. I must use it.

These are my writing goals for 2021. The default deadline is Dec 31st 2021, but I have chosen a different date for some because allowing a full year will encourage me to procrastinate.

1. Learn to use the dreaded WordPress block editor before I lose my sanity
2. Develop a new idea for a pocket novel for My Weekly, write the first draft during Camp Nano in April. Ideally, submit it to Maggie by September.
3. Submit a story to My Weekly (a new market for me) every submission period.
4. Write and submit a synopsis for a serial for The People’s Friend by December.
5. Write in my lovely new week-to-view planner at least 5 days a week.
6. Earn more than last year

This list is not exclusive, but I will concentrate my writing efforts here.

Now it’s your turn: what SMART goals will you set yourself for next year? Don’t go mad and pick something totally unachievable. You won’t write 5000 words every day, I guarantee it! Don’t set yourself up to fail—it’s dispiriting. ‘Write something every day even if it’s just a shopping list’ will do. 100 words is the length of this paragraph—something most people can rattle off at the end of a busy day. The important thing is that it means something to you and you know you can do it with the right motivation, time and support.

Positive vibes for Christmas

Let me start with a picture from our morning walk. If ever we needed a wonderful start to the day, it was Christmas Day 2020. If the rain gods can manage the same for New Year 2021 as well, I will be a grateful bunny. Not that I believe in portents or anything like that. No sirree.

I promised to talk about how I managed to sell my rejected first novel. Actually, it wasn’t my first novel, but the first I dared to send out into the wide world. Dispiritingly, it was rejected after only 3 days.

I considered this a bad sign. The agent so hated my book she hadn’t even opened it. But I was told by SJ Watson* and Henry Sutton** (who were running a crime-writing workshop in Harrogate) that it was a good sign: it had caught her attention.

So how did I get from there, through ‘I’ll abandon all hope for this one and move on’ to publication? I saw My Weekly pocket novels wanted to start a second line of pure crime fiction and needed MSS of 50,000 words. I had one of those seeking a home.

This was probably 8 years ago or more. Several days after sending my query, the editor rang me up. I, being wet behind the ears, assumed this was normal. Unfortunately, they were not starting a cosy crime line after all. Could I introduce a romance between the two main characters, Georgia and Mike, to fit the requirements of the current line?

No, I said. Georgia and Mike rub each other up the wrong way and I intended they continue to do so through the whole of their long-running series. Moonlighting would not have lasted beyond the first episode had Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis fallen into bed straight after the first skirmish, would it?

Since then I learnt that ‘enemies to lovers’ is a classic romance trope, and that if an editor rings to ask if you can tweak your story a little, unless you’ve got a cast-iron reason not to, you answer ‘yes, of course’ and worry about the ‘how’ later.

Eight years ago, I’d never written a romance and, no matter how easy they look, there is a definite art to it. Thanks to the Romantic Novelist Association New Writer Scheme and romance writer friends, I have acquired that art. Even though I am by no means a master of it yet, I have gained enough tools and experience to craft a passable ‘enemies to lovers’ story without them unaccountably falling into each other’s arms at the end.

Which is why I have finally just sold that first submission, Fingers in Pies – a tale of missing pastry goods and serial killings, to the same editor. It will be published on April 21st 2021.

What is the message from this?

• If you (and especially your writer friends) believe in a book, don’t give up on it. Keep looking for the right outlet and tweak it for the available markets
• If an editor rings you up – listen hard. Ask yourself ‘can I possibly do that?’ If you don’t have the skills then say so. Or if they want something unreasonable, walk away. Otherwise, say yes.
• Above all, don’t stop writing and don’t stop scanning the market.
• Network with others in your genre for inside info and invaluable advice. I know many writers are introverts, but joining the appropriate Facebook group or association, or even a small private group of likeminded writers will help you get where you want to be.

*author of Before I Go to Sleep

** writing tutor at UEA and author

#amwritingromance