By Larry Leech @LarryJLeechII

“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” —Pablo Picasso

Make a plan. Stick to the plan. Easier said than done, right? Can be. And some people think an easily achieved goal doesn’t push a person enough. I guess it depends on the person.

I first learned about goals when I married Wendy two decades ago. This time of the year, like many others, she starts thinking about goals for the following year. Me, back then, I thought it was silly. Probably because in my journalism career I spent most of the time living in the day-to-day. But I watched Wendy succeed in her personal life by setting goals. Now, after weeks of thinking and jotting down notes, we spend a day at a coffee shop writing our goals for the coming year in various categories. For me, that includes spiritual, health, husband, father, now grandfather, to name a few, and, of course, writing.

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” —Tony Robbins

I use this illustration often with new writers: You determine that you want to write a 60,000-word book. Then you decide you want to take six months to write. That breaks down into 10,000 words a month. With four weeks in a month, that comes out to 2,500 words a week. Then I finish with, write five days a week because I never suggest anyone, particularly new writers, try to write seven days a week. By writing five days, your weekly goal is reduced to 500 words a day, something that is much, much more manageable than the overwhelmingly 60,000-word goal.

Do the same with your goals. If an editor or agent requested your material at last week’s conference, pick a date you will send it to them, for instance, January 15. Just picking a random date there. Doesn’t have to be that one. After picking a date, set deadlines (goals) for things that need done on the project. Say you need to work on your dialogue based on things you learned at the conference, set a goal to finish reworking your dialogue by December 7. If you need to strengthen a male character, give yourself a deadline of December 15. After that, maybe you need to do some more self-editing, make your deadline January 7 so you have time to enjoy the holidays with your family and friends.

Those are just a few examples. You may have been told to build your platform, which takes a lot of time and effort. Pick a date in which you will be up on social media platforms and have your website completed. Again, set the final goal, but break down the process into smaller chunks and set completion goals for those as well.

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” —Lawrence J. Peter

And when you hit a goal, celebrate. This writing journey, as I’m sure you have heard, is a marathon, not a sprint. Enjoy the journey!

But first, set a goal. Then work diligently toward that goal.

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” —C.S. Lewis

Writing coach of award-winning novelists, Larry J. Leech II has spent nearly 40 years working with words. After a 23-year journalism career that began in 1981, Larry moved into freelance writing and editing in 2004. He has ghostwritten nearly 30 books and edited more than 250 manuscripts. Larry teaches at numerous conferences nationwide and can be found online on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and his website, www.larryleech.com.