Writing Goals for 2016

 December 17, 2015

“When you write your goal, rewrite it just a little bigger.” Kristen Lamb

My writing goals for 2015 were simple and doable:

1. To continue writing, both fiction and non-fiction.
2. To explore audiobooks.
3. To write a Kindle series.
4. To become profitable.

I’ve been fairly successful at completing these. I have continued writing. I’ve written and self-published two non-fiction books and one fiction and have two more fiction books in the editing process. I have published one book as an audiobook, using a narrator from Audible. I wrote a Kindle series for moms. If I don’t count my mileage to and from conferences, meetings, etc., I made a profit last year. If you count mileage, then I didn’t, but I’m doing better.

My writing goals for 2016 are equally simple and doable, though longer:

1. Work on publishing more of my non-fiction books. This includes: From I Do to We Do: The First Five Years, a book for newly married couples; The Psalms in Light of the Lord’s Prayer, a Bible Study on reading the Psalms through the framework of the Lord’s Prayer; writing Walking with Families through Grief, a companion piece for last year’s Walking with Families through the Dying Process and a companion to the novel, A Slow Waltz; and publish my kindle series on spirituality for moms as a single book.
2. Publish A Slow Waltz, the third book in Joy’s trilogy, Dancing through Life series, and explore other possible books in the series: An Irish Slip-Step, Letty’s Dance, Ashley’s Song, Amazing Gracie.
3. Continue work on last summer’s work in progress.
4. Publish more of my books in audio format. Explore doing narration myself.
5. Write and send out more magazine articles.
6. Explore changing my website from wordpress.com to wordpress.org.
7. Continue my weekly blog.
8. Become profitable.

When I was teaching Human Relations at a local college, I used to require students to write 2, 5 and 10 year goals, using the 5 Ms for goal setting. This assignment was passed on to me from the previous instructor. I liked it so decided to adopt it as my own. The 5 Ms were measurable, marketable, manageable, meaningful and malleable. I liked these better than the popular “SMART” goals: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time specific. Goals need to be:

• Measurable so you know when you have accomplished them rather than an open ended goal like to be happy. By what time and what definition?
• Marketable so you could actually make a living off of what you are doing. You may love underwater basket weaving, but is there a market for this?
• Manageable so that it is something you could attain rather than a fantasy. I may want to write 10 best sellers in one year, but really? How realistic is that?
• Meaningful because that is what will keep us working at them even when we are not successful.
• Malleable: soft, pliable, flexible, able to move around, rather than rigid because, after all, life happens. We need to have room to adapt to changing circumstances.

My goals for 2016 fit these. After teaching this for nine years, it seems it has become ingrained in my psyche. I automatically think in these terms. I tend to be practical even in my dreaming. But recently I read in Kristen Lamb’s blog: “Most of us underestimate what we can accomplish. When you write your goal, rewrite it just a little bigger.”

I look at my above goals and know they are doable but do they challenge me to stretch beyond my comfort level? Can I go a little bigger? So above are my practical goals for 2016. For New Years, I will write my “stretch goals” – goals that push me to do a little more, go a little further. Just the thought of doing this makes me uncomfortable. How much more can I do? Check back and see what I come up with.

What are your goals for 2016? How can they be stretched?