Have some writing you want to get done? Spend a couple minutes reading through this easy, 5 step exercise to motivate you to write and finally tackle your writing project head on.
Tag: goals (Page 1 of 4)
Have you ever caught yourself thinking you could be a better writer? Having a healthy amount of humility in one’s own work is of course, normal. Doing a simple retrospective, or ‘retro’ for short, on your writing projects can help you save time, money and ultimately a lot of self-doubt through your writing career.
Ever wanted to get things done but because something keeps holding you back — lack of time, perfectionism, distractions, etc. — you’re not able to get going? I certainly have. There are a few creative endeavors in my life, including writing, that make me feel this way.
However, over time I’ve learned a few tactics for how to overcome this perpetuating procrastination & perfectionism routine! One of them is remembering the below four writing mantras to help me prioritize, focus, and feel optimistic that even smallest of steps forward will help me reach my end goal (which also happens to be a TRM core value).
I have a thought, perhaps out of the blue or perhaps in the midst of writing something else, and I give myself permission to pursue it on paper in an uncontrolled way wherever it wants to go-even if it digresses (which it usually does).
– Peter Elbow on “Unfocused Exploring”, Toward a Phenomenology of Freewriting
Perhaps the biggest roadblock to getting back into the writing game is finding dedicated time to actually write. But once you put your foot down, schedule in the time and actually sit down to put words down, the second biggest roadblock is not knowing what to write. I’ve found that guided free-writing really helps.
What kind of writing goals do you set? Word count, revised pages, finished drafts, submitted stories, queried agents? These are examples of goals driven by measurable performance. Research has shown that when “a person is committed to the goal, has the requisite ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals, there is a positive, linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance.” But is there more to succeeding than setting clear, attainable goals you’re committed to?
