Let's Set Our First Quarter Writing Goals Together

Let’s talk about my first quarter goals and how I set them…

I’m going to be honest with you, these goals are not exactly “SMART” or what many would consider good goals, but I know it’s going to work for me and I want to share that with you! 

My goals are not as specific as they could be, some are measured by “done / not done,” they ARE achievable, relevant and time bound. Maybe they’re not as bad as I think they are when I really look at it… But that’s besides the point. This is one part update/ behind-the-scenes and one part how-to. I’ll definitely dive more into goals again (and have in the past!)

Setting My First Quarter Writing Goals…

Step One: What is my focus for the next three months?

For this I went with a brain dump technique. I just wrote down the things that I’d like to get done with the intention to make it make sense as a goal later.

My list: write more, finish short stories, work on novella, work on collection, Inktober stories, have and maintain a routine, have clearer goals.

I then considered if all of these things could get done (they likely can’t) and so I thought about how these might get grouped together into “one” goal. Picking a strong focus for the first quarter helps narrow all the other goals we'll be creating.

For me this was short stories. And it groups together a lot of these goals. No matter what I chose, I'd be writing more. And short stories includes three of the four projects on the list. I know I won’t finish all of the projects, but having a variety of story styles to work on excites me, and I can narrow down how much of each project I'll complete in the next step.

Step Two: One month at a time.

Of those things, what can I possibly get done in one month? And is there any focus beyond what project I’m working on? I prefer to set a focus that an actual goal at this step, breaking this focus down into actionable steps come next.

For January, I want to focus more on setting a writing routine and keeping my “writing dates” with myself. I also want to write away from home at least once. Because of this, I am setting my goal to write for 2 hours a week with one of those hours always being Saturday morning. Other writing sessions can be as long or short as I want as long as they equal at least another hour. I plan to finish one “stand alone” short story and one from the Inktober project.

Step Three: Week by week.

Within each month, I set a goal for each week. We know that I will be writing for at least 2 hours with one 1-hour session (usually on Saturday mornings, but... life.) So what else do I need to figure out for each week?

In this case, which project? I know that I’m focusing on just the writing, so I don’t need a lot of time. If it were a larger project I'd be breaking things down a little more at this stage. For example: reaching a word count, finishing up to a certain chapter, getting to a certain plot point, editing a certain amount etc.

My January week by week:

Week 1 - Finish outline of TBEH and write at least the intro scene

Week 2 - Finish writing TBEH 

Week 3 - Outline ISS1 and begin writing (set a goal once outline is complete)

Week 4 - Finish ISS1

Step Four: Weekly planning.

This is a step that will occur every Sunday or Monday (depending on when I’m planning my week out) and will include scheduling my writing dates and creating a smaller task list.

My first week might look something like this:

Outline - 30 minutes - Monday

Any research needed - 30 minutes - Friday

Write intro scene (or more) - 60 minutes - Saturday

My actual list might be even more specific with a task list like: plot, characters, setting, and timeline on the day of outlining; or, research topic 1, topic 2 and topic 3 for the researching day. The more boxes I get to check off the more happy juices flow in my noodle.

Step Five: Check in

At the end of each month (if not each week) I check in with my goals. Am I where I need to be? Were these goals too easy or am I really struggling? What information can I take and make sure next month is challenging enough that I stay engaged but easy enough that I won't feel like I'm floundering.

Maybe I finish my first WIP in the first week and I need to alter things right then and there.

Maybe by the end of the month I’ve only just outlined my first Inktober short story.

This gives me information about what I can get done in a month and, if I've kept up on daily tracking, I can see patterns in good days and weeks to help plan the next month’s (or week’s) work better.

Speaking of tracking! 

I plan to track my time spent and my word count in the first month to help me understand better for the coming months what I can do and when. I want to see if certain days of the week have better outcomes and if there’s a certain point in the month where I take off or fall behind. Or maybe I’ll be able to see certain points in a project where I fall off (more likely in larger projects than a single short story, but who knows!)

How am I tracking this? In a spreadsheet because yes, I am that kind of nerd!

If you want to track your projects the same way I do, you can find the spreadsheet for yourself as a freebie over on Patreon. All you gotta do is sign up to be a free member! Love freebies? I’m also going to toss up a worksheet to use for goal planning that follows this method! And there will be more to come with a certain project I have in the works… 

Want one more reason to hop over to Patreon? A monthly newsletter with updates, behind the scenes and some other goodies. 

For now, only free memberships are available, but more perks are in the works.

Pardon the ad, it’s new, I'm excited, and really it just fit!

What does the rest of my first quarter currently look like?

February

Focus: Inktober top three written and editing begun

Week 1: outline ISS2 and ISS3

Week 2: write 2000 words

Week 3: write 2000 words

Week 4: edit ISS1

I’m using word counts in February as my main goal and tracking measurement but I don’t know what my actual goals will be. I plan to base them off what I write during January. I will also have a better understanding of what my writing routine can look like after the first month of the year. The only “problem” with this is I don’t really know how long those stories will be, so word count vs finished story as a goal is something to consider. What I might do is allow week four to be a flex week where I finish writing if I need to or jump into editing if I’m done ISS2 and 3.

March

Focus: NHIE collection

Week 1: outline and solidify structure

Week 2: outline as many of the linked stories as I can in my writing time (goal 3)

Week 3: write 2000 words

Week 4: write 2000 words

The word count in March suffers the same “issues” as February and will be updated as I get my ish figured out. That being said, it may be changed entirely because…

…I already know in the back of my mind that that non-short-story project may pull me out of my focus. If that’s going to happen, it will replace the collection in March. That’s why we check in.

If you want to see the progress and check-ins with my goals, my new newsletter (hosted through free Patreon membership) is a great way. Instagram will likely get some behind the scenes of these projects too, but definitely more in the newsletter/ on Patreon.

What are your goals for January, the first quarter and beyond this year?

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Jerrica is a writer and editor who inspires up-and-coming writers to create compelling fiction and creative nonfiction works while providing them with the confidence to do it themselves or ask for a helping hand when they need it. She enjoys speculative fiction, horror and gut-wrenching emotion with a side of food & drink and the cozier things in life.