Goal Setting

There's one thing I tend to do really well in the planning stage: set goals.
The thing I don't do so well:live up to those goals.

Don't get me wrong. I respond well to deadlines, when they're imposed by someone else. If I'm the one setting the regulations, I often feel quite comfortable ignoring myself. Apparently, one side of myself loves the sound the deadlines make as they woosh by.

My current Big Goal: Finish my first draft (or, at least, reach intended finished up word count) by August 29th, which is my last day before I must head to Boston.

Sounds like a good enough goal to me. And, in my mind, the best way to reach Big Goals, is to have lots of Mini Goals that go along with them, so you can track progress en route.

Current Mini Goal: Write 1300 words a day. (I know the number probably sounds a little random, but that's what I'd have to do to round things up, at least in theory.) This is actually rather ambitious for me, but I'm dreaming big.

Today, second day in a row, I have met my mini goal. Actually, yesterday, I exceeded the mini goal, and was very proud of myself. So, so far, so good.

1300 words is a bit past what I usually can do. It's sort of like working to muscle fatigue. So, I'm careful to spread the effort out over a period of several hours. I just need to be weary of idea fatigue. I don't want to miss Shiny New Ideas just because I'm pushing a bit much.

I'll keep you posted on my goal progress.

What kind of goals do you set for your writing? Ever set goals of how many words/scenes/chapters you are going to finish by a certain date or time? What's your current goal/mini goal?