Are You Setting Goals?
While talk of goal setting on any business blog is usually at the first of the year, we never like to be the same as everyone else. Also, I believe any time of year is good for setting new goals. Why wait?
If you’ve been keeping track on this blog, you’ll know I’ve officially switched my occupation to “Fiction Author”. But just because what I do with my time has completely changed, doesn’t mean I don’t do similar tasks. This week I learned that I too need goals to keep me moving forward.
Always sitting open on my computer is my current novel-in-progress. But it’s not just a goal to finish. It’s a long term goal, and something I won’t be done with for a long time. You could compare it to the content sites I’ve done in the past - something that’s great for long term income, but not so great for short term. So I let it sit for the most part, adding to it and revising for only a short time every day.
More important right now (least I want to become a “starving artist”) are my short stories. I realized today if I want to sell that novel to an agent once it’s done, I’m going to need some small published works. Sure it’s not required, but it looks a lot better on my part. Gives my talents a bit of an edge, assuring the agent I must be half way decent if I’ve already been published. One foot in the door, you could say.
So the short stories are where the daily goals come in. I’ve quickly discovered I can crank out a 1,000 word story in a matter of an hour or two. Revising of course takes a bit extra time, but the first draft comes easy. So I write, every day. Sometimes 2 or 3 stories, sometimes just one. But at least I get something finished daily. Some of them go to contests at a writer’s community (no monetary prizes, but good practice, feedback, and recognition). A select few get revised, rewritten, and sent to various publication that actually pay.
Which is where another daily goal comes in - submission. If I’m actually going to be published, I need to submit the stories. I’ve decided I would alternate between contests and publications, so I’m beefing up my portfolio of accomplishments. That, and of course, there’s the chance I’d get nothing from the contest (or a whole lot of cash - I’ve seen them $1,000 and up) while the publications pay a smaller, set amount.
Today I submitted a story to one publisher, and a query to another magazine (for those who don’t know, a query is simply an overview of what you want to send, which you then wait for them to reject or request the story - works the same for publishers and agents). I also wrote a new short story, which happened to win a daily prompt contest (not bad for something I wrote in about an hour and a half), and am starting to work on another.
The point here is, regardless of what your business is (and yes, writing is a business!), there are certain things we all must do: Set goals, take constant steps to meet those goals, and of course, never stop learning. 
Your fellow WAHM in success,
Kara
Topics: Business Stuff |