Because it’s getting to be resolution time, and time for me to set my writing goals for the next year, I wanted to talk about dreams versus goals.<\/p>\n
I see a lot of people (probably not you) who declare that their goal for the next year\/five years\/decade is “Sell a novel,” “Win the big contest,” or similar things.<\/p>\n
Those aren’t goals, they’re dreams.<\/p>\n
A dream is something you want to achieve but can’t control. A goal is something you want to achieve and can control. And you set goals to help you reach your dreams.<\/p>\n
So you want to sell a novel? That’s not in your control (or in mine, alas). That’s a dream. Make your goals “I will finish my first draft by x date,” “I will revise the novel by x date,” “I will start submitting on x date,” etc. Those, you can control. <\/p>\n
Want to win the tennis league? You can’t control how well everyone else plays. Goals could be “I will practice my serves,” “I will practice anticipating where the ball will go,” and so on.<\/p>\n
And then make a plan that will make you meet those goals. You might not achieve your dream, but you’ll be making progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Because it’s getting to be resolution time, and time for me to set my writing goals for the next year, I wanted to talk about dreams versus goals. I see a lot of people (probably not you) who declare that … Continue reading