Setting Realistic Writing Goals7/4/2022 As wonderful as it is to have written, the actual writing part can be difficult. With writing comes inevitable rewrites, blocks, and bouts of imposter syndrome. We want to get our ideas out on paper and published as soon as possible. This drive coupled with the thinking “I’m not a real writer if I don’t write 1,000 words a day” can actually slow your roll and create more blocks in your process. Believe me, I understand the longing to write as much as possible. But setting too high a goal too early will deter you. Let’s say your current writing goal features throwing 500 words onto a page each day. Maybe you start off fine, especially during the summertime or over the weekends. Suddenly, you miss a day. You went to school and got swamped with homework, or you picked up more hours at work because life costs way too much money. When you finally reach your designated writing time, you’re too exhausted to put pen to paper or fingertip to keyboard. Your brain locks up, and the voice in the back of your head screams “SEE YOU AREN’T A REAL WRITER I TOLD YOU SO”. So you tell yourself, no problem, I’ll just add whatever I didn’t write to tomorrow’s word goal. But what if the same thing happens? You keep building up words you owe yourself, they bear down on you, and your imposter syndrome runs wild. Now you’re too worried about hitting your goal to actually be concerned about the quality of the story. Granted, this is all hyperbole, but people have indeed experienced similar things. Knowing your limitations takes humility and self-reflection, yet sets you up for success. If you’ve got a lot going on in your day, there’s nothing wrong with knocking down your daily word or page goal. For starters, try something small, like writing a minimum of 100 or 200 words per day – even shooting for a paragraph works just fine. With easier numbers to hit, you’re less likely to grow discouraged with your writing capabilities. As an added bonus, since these goals are easy to achieve, you can surpass your daily word count easier as well. My personal goal is a page a day, so when I get on a roll and push past that, I feel awesome. It’s rewarding to see yourself go above and beyond when working on something you feel passionate about. With tiny milestones like these, you’ll achieve consistent progress in your writing. Adjust these goals as needed – when you’re ready to crank things up a bit, increase the word count just a smidge. If you find yourself slipping, dial it back down and reestablish your rhythm. Even on days when you end up completely swamped with zero time to write, go easy on yourself. There’s no shame in writing a sentence and saying “that’s good enough”. You’re still a writer, even if you don’t pump out a 70,000 word novel every other month. Give yourself the grace and space to grow without straining yourself. Remember: Rome wasn’t built in a day. You can’t train for a marathon overnight. Pace yourself! Ian Hebeisen is a writer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Graduating in May 2020 with a degree in English Literature with a Writing Emphasis, Ian writes comics, poetry, and scripts. He is currently an intern for The Brain Health Magazine and aims to work in the comic publishing industry. In his spare time, Ian plays Dungeons & Dragons, board games, and bass guitar.
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