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About Those Goals...

Chris Bannor

Picture of alphabet blocks that spell out Reflect, Rethink, Revise. Image text says The Art of Keeping Your Goals
Picture of alphabet blocks that spell out Reflect, Rethink, Revise. Image text says The Art of Keeping Your Goals

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we talked about goals? SMART goals. To make good goals you need to make sure they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. So, let's talk about those goals.


I find one of the most important aspect of setting goals is reflecting on them occasionally. So here we are with only a few days left in January. It's time for me to check in on those goals. Was I being realistic with everything I wanted to do? What do I need to adjust and fine tune?


So let's see what those goals were:

1) Weekly Blog

2) Weekly Newsletter

3) One class a month on the craft of writing.

4) One class every two months on the business side of writing.

5) Read three books in my genre a month.

6) Read one craft book every two months.

7) Create writing accountability by hosting an in-person Show Up & Write with my local writing group, as well as stream it once I figure out how :P

8) Finish the edits on my cyberpunk novel.

9) Finish writing the sequel to it.

10) Finish writing my steampunk novel.

11) Consistently write and post my serial fiction (Maybe and Elements of Change) or Ream and Patreon.


I had 4 goals that were measurable weekly. The blog (*waves*), the newsletter, the weekly in person Show UP & Write, and my serial fiction. Well, 3 out of 4 are hitting on all cylinders! The blog and newsletter and going and, thanks to a media planning worksheet I created for myself, I don't think it's going to be hard to keep up with them. The Show Up & Write has been really fun for me. We've met 3 times and I managed to stream 2 of them. Now, the writing on the serial fiction has been a little slow. But I'm working on it. I don't want to tweak that goal because I think I can make this one work. I'll check in at month 3 to see how I've managed.


Now on to those monthly goals. I have 4 monthly/bi-monthly goals for reading and classes. This month I've read two books and I'm working on that third. So I might get that third book finished this month. I might tweak this one because I'm struggling with my current book and I think finishing at least two books and giving myself the grace to say 'this book isn't my thing' and leaving it unfinished might work better. I also took a class on writing fairytales. My monthly goals are taken care of there. The bi-monthly goals were reading a craft book and taking a class that is more business (of writing :P) related. I haven't read that craft book yet, but I took a class on author planning and another one on social media. So I am ahead of that one!


My other goals are less time-bound and harder to judge. That's because they're about finishing longer writing projects. I have made strides is all of my writing goals though, so that one will have to be more of an overall goal that I keep track of rather than something I can check off easily.


So I was able to mark off some boxes as I worked this month and that's made me really happy. I think for now I'll keep my goals as they are. But it's important to reflect on them. Nothing is set in stone and the best way to keep your goals is to remember that they are fluid (They're more like guidelines anyway! :P). Don't be afraid to see what is working, what isn't, and adapt! After all, so much of life is all about adaptation!


Happy exploring my friends!


Chris Bannor

Fictional Explorer

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