If you find yourself wanting to become an Expert Author, but are anxious about your writing abilities, or feel you have exhausted every writing bone in your body, listen up: YOU CAN WRITE!
Goal setting, in article writing, in business, in publication and even in one's personal life, helps you focus your efforts into a plan. Whenever you are stuck or feel anxiety looming, you can refer to this plan and stay on the road to success.
Here are some tips on how you can effectively set goals and conquer any writing anxieties once and for all.
1. Set a Goal
Setting a goal can be as broad as "I want to write more articles or books," or something a little more focused as "I want to master 2 niches related to my expertise."
Once you have set a goal, it will become your mission to achieve this goal. When you are in a tight spot, you can revert back to your original goal and consider the following:
- My Goal is…
- Will this help me achieve my goal?
Now that you've set your goal, begin implementing measures to achieve it by breaking the goal down into manageable tasks over a period of time. Most writers feel overwhelmed because they focus on the big picture or overall goal.
By breaking down your goal into smaller goals you take pressure off your muse and stop focusing on the main finish line. Instead you might focus on acquiring resources to develop your knowledge base. Challenging yourself by stepping a degree outside of your comfort zone.
You'll surprise yourself with what you can do!
For instance, if my goal is to write more blog posts, my plan might look like this:
"I will write 5 blog posts this month."
Once I've achieved that goal, I'll step it up and write 10 pages of my novel the next week.
3. Set Milestones with Quality Checks
In order to stay the course and prevent yourself from goal derailment, ensure you've set milestones and quality checks.
Milestones can be used to reward yourself and measure your progress. Quality checks can be used to ensure you don't derail completely and sacrifice your credibility and writing time.
For example, I will reward myself when my 5 blog posts are finished. To ensure I'm reaching my audience, providing informative content, and not submitting my blog posts with reckless abandon, I will track which posts were published and if there were any problems along the way.
For example on my book/novel goals, I will reward myself when I've completed 10 or 20 pages. To ensure I'm engaging my readership and providing engaging content, I will submit my work to my critique buddy for feedback and double check what I've written against my book's outline.
No matter your goal and play it's important to write every day.