Do you have any writing goals? Other than becoming a best-selling author earning big royalties, do you know what your writing goals are? Have you listed them somewhere? Or is this list in a constant state of flux?

Well, for me, yes, I have to put the best-selling author with big royalties somewhere on my list, but perhaps it’s not in the top five. Why? Well, I don’t write to become rich and famous, I write because it’s my passion. It’s something I feel compelled to do. Every day.

And, yes, my writing goals list is in a constant state of flux. For now, the top of my list is to further explore the challenge of writing fiction in the short form: short stories, flash fiction, and even the six-word story. There is a fine-tuned talent for writing a compelling story in the shortest form possible. I do believe excelling in these forms, and even if I merely write them for myself, I will strengthen my writing in other longer forms.

Also, part of my writing goals’ list is my daily regimen to write so much each day on my current ‘big’ writing project, before working on anything else. And, to keep my journal current. I am a passionate believer in the importance of journaling. Even if you’re not a writer, it’s important to write down daily events and feelings. You never know when you might need some inspiration from your past or a memory booster to help you remember something important. My grandmother wasn’t a writer. She was a fabulous storyteller, a seanchaidh, but not a writer. Yet she kept a journal, writing in it every day of her life. In her later years, she would look through her journals to remember things from her past.

Back to the goals list: why is it important to have a writing goals list? It gives you something to work towards. However, first of all, you need to figure out what your writing goals are. Ask yourself:

- Are you hoping to work on a certain part of your book, story, or article each day? As I’ve said, that’s one of my primary goals, something I’ve managed to keep going for several years now.

- Do you want to set a specific number of words as a minimum to write each day? I don’t set a word count, or even a minimum amount a time to spend writing each day. Like I tell my writing students, set a goal of at least 5 minutes and work from there, because, surely, we can all afford to dedicate 5 minutes a day to our writing.

- Is one of your goals to set a specific time of day to write? I’m best first thing in the morning, but I don’t set it as a goal, as life has a habit of interfering. The important thing for me is that I write every day.

- Do you have goals to publish your work within a certain time frame? Many writers do, but to me, that seems impractical. We write and then we hope to publish. But if we limit ourselves to a specific timeline, we might end up disappointed that our goal hasn’t been achieved. My recent Middle-Grade series, “The Piccadilly Street Series” (Tell-Tale Publishing) did the circuit of possible publishers for five years before landing a contract. I sent the manuscript to potential publishers around the world; some were favorable but wanted me to contribute thousands of dollars (US) to publish.)

- Don’t forget to include in your writing goals list networking and attending writing conferences to both promote and improve your writing skills.

- Reading should also be part of your writing goals list. How else will you learn what works and what doesn’t in the writing world?

Remember, your writing goals list is a tool to help keep you on track, to help you accomplish both assigned and desired writing tasks. But, make sure you don’t set any unrealistic goals. You don’t want to rush your work, as that will ultimately affect the creativity and quality of your work.