And finally, 2020 is over; a year that faced us to many new and difficult challenges, and changed our lives drastically. And now it’s time to sit down and think about the future.
Are you the resolutions-for-the-New-Year type of writer? If you are like me, you probably wait for the beginning of a New Year full of hopes, dreams and amazing plans in your head; plans that perhaps, sound achievable. You want to write a book, or go back to that manuscript you didn’t have time to edit last year, or perhaps you want to publish your work finally. And there’s nothing wrong about that attitude, but then, when we get to December and if we didn’t take advantage of our precious time we are back to square one. This has happened to me with many things in my life, writing included.
There are other people, who simply don’t like to set goals, because they feel they would be frustrated if they don’t accomplish them.
There’s no reason for any of this to happen. And although planning doesn’t sound as attractive as living the present day and going with the flow, it certainly works out better. As writers, planning our year effectively can make a difference between success and failure. You can be a pantser, a plotter, or a mixture of both, but at least some level of planning can turn you into a more efficient writer.
In this post I’ll explain to you my tips to plan the next year to get better results and feel fulfilled even if it’s not possible to fully accomplish what you’ve set.
If you are new to the writing World and don’t know where to start at all, check this article.
1. Jot down the goals you want to achieve in the New Year
This sounds obvious, right? However, writing your goals down is powerful and is the first step to achieve them. It also helps you stay more committed.
What do you want to achieve this year? Do you want to finish that book that you’ve always wanted to write? Edit a manuscript? Start querying?
I like to start the year taking some time to define what I want to accomplish, how I can do it and what things I will be changing for that to happen. Planning your year can make a great difference and it’s better than doing it on autopilot.
Last year I decided to make a list of all the things that I wanted to accomplish by the end of the year, but this year I thought of going a little bit further and putting them somewhere I could see them every day. We could do with a constant reminder that we have to work.
If your goals are, for instance, editing your story, creating a writing habit, or even finish your first draft, you can create a vision board in which you would include them. Add pictures, text, and everything to motivate you, and keep it somewhere close.
In my case, this year I want to edit a story that I wrote three years ago. I wanted to do it a long time before, but this year I’m getting serious about it. So, I’ve already put it on my list.
2. Divide your goals for the year into quarters.
It’s wonderful that you’ve set your goals for the end of the next year. However, a year is a long time, and thus, will surely affect your motivation and your discipline to succeed. Waiting a whole year to see the results of your work can be discouraging at times, and we’ve all been there. I’ve made plans that I’ve never gone back to afterwards. You start committing the first days of January, and then, you just lose the incentive, and you end up wasting your time. That’s why we need smaller goals.
Dividing the year into quarters is the best option; this will give you more flexibility and will help you to be more productive. Why quarters, though? They are neither too long, nor too short. This means that you will have enough time to accomplish long-term goals, which are the ones associated with books, but also you won’t lose your motivation.
Once you have clearly defined your goals for the year, divide each of them into quarters. This will provide you with more flexibility and productivity.
On one hand, you will have a more flexible schedule. For instance, if one of your goals for the end of the year is to self-edit the first draft of your novel, and you’ve decided to do the developmental editing within the first two quarters, the line editing for the third quarter and the copy editing for the last three months of the year. Then, you can always rearrange the work you planned for the next months in order to meet your goals at the end of the year according to your productivity levels. One of the advantages of working this way is having the chance of doing a balance of your efficiency every three months.
On the other hand, dividing your work into quarters will boost your productivity, since it’ll establish what you need to focus on, at every moment.
3. Plan According to your Time
One of the things that can help you stick to your plan is taking into account your current situation. Are you a student? Do you have kids? Do you work too many hours? You can’t set your goals without considering how much time you can devote to them. It can be difficult for you to write a novel in two months if you have school and a part-time job, or if you work and have to look after the kids. However, planning according to the time you have available can make a great difference.
The options are endless, and there’s always time. Last year I tried something new and that has worked very well for me so far. I started to wake up earlier (at 5:00 am) every day, somebody recommended me to do so, and thus, I gave it a try. The truth is that it has become part of my routine, and I found myself to be more productive. It gives me extra time that I can use to write, edit, or anything else. The key is finding what works for you, but I’ll give you some ideas to try:
- Wake up earlier or go to bed later.
- Forget about the phrase ‘I’m bored’
- Use the 5 Seconds Rule (if you feel an impulse to complete a task, start doing it within the first five seconds or your brain will just switch to another thing).
- Don’t wait to have plenty of time to work, if it’s 15 minutes what you have, that’ll work as well.
- Skip your favorite TV show (*weeps*) and write during that time instead.
Also, take into consideration what time of the year you’ll have more time. Perhaps if you want to write the first draft of a story you are thinking to do it in summer since you’ll have more free time, or maybe you want to leave that for NaNoWriMo because you want to live the experience, and you won’t be that busy.
4. Tackle your Goals with Small Tasks
Once you’ve thought about what you want to accomplish and you’ve divided your work into quarters, it’s time to be S.M.A.R.T. and define your strategy to accomplish your goals.
Your goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Framed.
Specific – (What do you want to accomplish?) I want to write a novel.
Measurable – (How will you know you have achieved your goal?) it will be 90,000 – words.
Attainable – (it is something that you are willing and able to do?) I will and can finish it by December 1st, 2021.
Relevant – (How does this goal align with you?) I will write a YA Fantasy novel because I love this genre.
Time-Framed (What is the timeline for achieving this goal) – I will write it in seven months.
This method will help you accomplish your goals and plan your writing journey through the year. Using the previous example, if your goal for the year is writing a 110,000 – word YA Fantasy novel in seven months before December 1st, 2020, then you need to define the tasks you need to do to accomplish that goal. In that case you could break it down by writing 515 words every day or 15,800 per month. With commitment and discipline, it’s possible.
Make a list of all the things you need to do in order to accomplish your quarter goal. If your goal for the first two quarters is to do the developmental editing of your manuscript, divide that big task into smaller tasks. Ask yourself what you should do to accomplish that goal. In that case you could break your work down to the number of acts your story has, and decide how you’d like to organize the time to do so. You can do the same with the goals that are left for the rest of the quarters.
Check this article to learn how to use the THREE-ACT STRUCTURE
Now divide those tasks into even simpler tasks. If you are editing the first act during January and February, decide which tasks that would require, and plan accordingly. You can devote the first two weeks of January to work on the structure and the next two to check the narrative. Then you can work on the characters, the language and the dialogue on February.
The most important thing here is to set those small steps that will help us tackle our big goal. If you think about it, when you say ‘I will check the dialogues of my story this week’ it sounds more achievable than ‘I will edit my first draft this year’. These small tasks will get you started and as they don’t sound overwhelming, they will be more likely to stick.
Use a planner to track your progress
There’s nothing better to start your new year off on the right foot than a new planner. I don’t know why, but there’s something magical about planners. That’s one of my secret ingredients to stick to a plan. When we have our goals in our head it can be messy sometimes, a planner, on the contrary, will allow you to organize your tasks and events and have a general overview of them. It’s excellent to plan your work day-by-day and take notes.
I can’t make my way through the year without one of those. And although I’ve tried some planning systems, like google calendar, and other apps like Trello, the truth is that I’m from the old school because I keep going back to the pen and paper.
Find a planner that looks pretty and that you like a lot. I think that having a pretty planner can have a good influence on you. Find one that makes you want to write in it, and try to create a habit of checking your progress and writing down your tasks. I do it in the evening before sleep, but you can do it when you see fit.
There are plenty of options, but I recommend these that I found on AliExpress:
I also found this calendar, and though it’s not actually a planner it’s the perfect way to look at the whole picture, I have a friend that made something similar, and worked out really well for her.
Summing Up…
An important part of accomplishing your writing goals for the new year lies on a good plan. If you define your goals, divide them into simpler tasks, organize your time, and track your progress, you can be a step closer to tackle that big goal.
The truth is that there is no secret trick to accomplish what you dream of, it’s just a combination of organization, discipline, effort and a strong plan. Make a difference this year and commit to making your dreams come true.
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