Tracking Goals for 2025 -- April

Here I am, nearly a third of the way through the year.

So, how have I been tracking with my writing goals?

It's fair to say there are some wins and some losses.

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Short Term Goals

My short term goals, which I should have completed by now were:

• Journal more frequently -- five times a week

• Research story markets

• Finish zeroth draft of current story

I've only partially completed one of these. But that's not all bad.

My journalling was good there for a few weeks, but has now dropped off completely. I'm not, however, counting that a complete failure.

Yes, I had set myself the difficult target of 5 journals a week. But the reasoning behind that was to encourage me to get into a five-day-a-week writing habit.

Which I have more or less achieved anyway.

I have done some research into writing markets. Not as much as I had hoped. But this is difficult when I don't have a story ready to sell.

I like to think I'll have a better idea what to try and sell to when I've got something to sell.

And as for a zeroth draft of a story. Hopeless. I have taken a tilt at four different stories and not completed a single one.

But I am still working on one. I'll try to focus on my current work-in-progress until a draft is finished.

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Medium Term Goals

My medium term goals, which I should be past halfway done, are:

• Read writing craft book

• Develop daily writing habit

• Do writing lessons

• Find writing buddy or group

Again, I've only partially completed one of these.

Read (or re-read) a book on the craft. I am partway through Saves the Cat Writes a Novel. But then I've been partway through that book since the end of last year.

I must make a more concerted effort to finish it.

I'm not quite there on developing a daily writing habit, but I'm pretty happy with the results. From nothing seven or eight months ago, to writing around 60-70% of the days of the month is pretty good.

I tend to slip on weekends and public holidays, so I should focus encouragement there.

No writing lessons taken. There has been little that piqued my interest in that space. I might have to look for something online -- someone's Patreon membership tier or a Udemy course (my local writing centre if very focussed on young people at present).

And finding a writing group or buddy? Zilch there too. Not that I've looked particularly hard.

Maybe I should take a look at something on Facebook (*shudders*) or some online space.

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Long Term Goals

And my long term goals, for which I have another eight-ish months to complete, are:

• Query publisher for current story

• Complete story plan for new story

• Begin draft on another story

These are surprisingly not that bad.

I have no query for a current story -- I have no completed story to attempt to sell. But maybe I should look at how to go about developing one now, while the stories are in build.

As far as completing a story plan for a new story, I am actually in the middle of a story plan right now -- characters, plots, scene breakdowns, the works.

The story isn't a completely new one. It was a story I had completed and tried to sell to an anthology, but it just wasn't right on a re-read.

I've refashioned it, added some characters, changed the course of the story arc and found a new wow-factor. So, it is, in essence, a new story.

And drafting a brand spanking, never before seen, story is also underway. It's a spy thriller set in a secondary fantasy world.

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My key words for the year are:

• Rediscover

• Create

• Enjoy

And I must say, I think I am managing all of the above.

I think I can say that I'm actually finding the love in creating again.

So, even though I haven't hit half the goals and goal-progresses that I'd hoped to by this time of the year, I am going to call this a success thus far.

I may not be where I want to be in terms of targets hit, but I am more than there in spirit.

All images from pixabay.com