Well, hello, again. It’s two days after Christmas and already critique partners are talking about setting 2006 Goals.
First let me set one thing straight right off the bat. I’m not talking about New Years Resolutions. I never remember those, let alone keep them. This is something else entirely. Goals are what we’d like to accomplish–mainly professional writing milestones and career progress, although sometimes personal goals do creep up on the list, too. Last year I checked mine and adjusted the goals twice, both times taking some of the specifics out (like which manuscript I thought I’d write next) and making them general (write a book).
I’ve been thinking about that and was trying to come up with realistic goals, but realistic seemed like a cop-out. If you know you can do it barring some emergency, why set goals? You’re not stretching yourself, aspiring to bigger and better things, you’re writing a To-Do list.
This year I think I’ll use a different method–one I’ve seen others use. I’m going to separate my goals, into categories: Slam Dunk Goals, It’s A Stretch Goals, and Pie-In-The-Sky Goals.
Some people write the list and forget about it until it’s time to write another, then they take a look to see how they did. How many of you set some kind of goals? How detailed do you get? Do you set daily, weekly and monthly goals in order to reach those listed, or do you just have the list in the back of your mind, nudging you?
CAROL BURNSIDE / ANNIE RAYBURN 