OcToBeR!!!

Hello everyone!

This month I've gotten my stuff together a little more and I wanted to blog a little on goal setting for this month's post. I've actually been pretty excited about it since I came up with the idea to have a planned post for each month.

Goal setting is important in many aspects, no one needs me to tell them that. Whether your goal is to finish cleaning house or write 2,000 words on your latest novel :) everyone needs a goal. It sets a momentum and gives purpose. Goals motivate us.

Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood . . . Make big plans, aim high in hope and work.-Daniel H. Burnham

That quote stuck in my mind until I was convinced that I had to add it in this blog. I find it very true for myself. If my goals are small, I tend to give them less attention and push them to the side. For my latest WIP (because it has all come at me so fast) I've set my goal to be finished with my rough-draft before my husband returns from his field time the first week in November. I had originally hoped to be done by the end of this month, but with my daughter's birthday and my parent's trip to see us, I simply haven't had the time. This means 5 chapters completed before the 19th and 2 a day after the 27th. Today my goal was to finish chapter 15. It didn't happen, but I have determination and a goal. If I hadn't made that goal for myself I wouldn't have gotten in the 500 words that I did manage to find the time for. Point being, it's ok not to meet a goal. You won't ALWAYS be able to, but if there is nothing to strive for you are less likely to succeed.

My advise to other writers is this, set a daily goal for yourself and a time where you can reasonably complete it. You may have to get up earlier than usual to do this or use part of a lunch break. Myself, I used to get up at 4:30 A.M. and work until my daughter woke up at 7:30ish, then I would use her nap time to write and after she went to bed too. However, that was while my husband was deployed. Now life had changed somewhat. I've set a goal to get back into those habits. Hopefully soon, but until then, writing during naptime works. But knowing what I need to do to complete my utmost goal (becoming a published author) is important to achieving it.

Also, break a complex or large goal down into smaller goals. For example, my WIP has 40 chapters, tentatively. I've broken the WIP down into four stages for my characters to complete, to keep myself from becoming overwhelmed. Also, I find that if I concentrate on one stage at a time I get alot more out of my scenes.

Reading is another motivator I would like to mention. Read, read, read. I find that when I read, whether it is another novel or an authors blog, I get more motivated than when I haven't read.

So, my goal for the next month is to finish my rough draft. What is yours?

Join me next month for my blog on being a NOP or a OP and find out which I am!

Have a Happy Halloween!
-Kerri M. Patterson