However, we're going to look at a slightly revised version of SMART Goals.

Specific

The first letter in the acronym, the S, stands for Specific. This means we need to focus on what we can control and be very intentional about how we word our goals. We should make them task-related instead of results-oriented.

When we think of goals, often we think of the big result we want. For instance, we may want to write a bestselling novel. We really can't control that, but what are the tasks we can perform in order to reach that desired result? Those tasks should be what make up your goals for the year. What are some marketing efforts you can try in order to help you get to that bestseller status, for example? So, again, results are the desire, but tasks are the goals.

As writers, we might set goals for plotting and planning a specific project or goals for our writing output. We may want to write a certain number of words a day or finish a certain number of chapters in a month.

We might also have growth or career-oriented goals. So, we might want to improve in some area of the writing craft or grow our audience or platform as an author. We also may want to increase the number of authors and industry professionals with whom we network.

Measurable

What do we mean when we say goals should be measurable? Well, this means we can actually tell in numbers, or some other measurable quantity, whether we've achieved the goal or not. This might be a word count goal or to write so many minutes a day, or to finish three scenes a week, etc.

We can measure the number of words we've written, or the scenes or chapters we've completed. We can also measure the amount of time we spend writing, the number of Amazon ads we run on our books that are already published, and the number of literary agents to whom we've submitted a manuscript.

I have tried word count goals for my writing projects, but that doesn't work as well for me as a goal of completing two or three scenes in a week. I function better by concentrating on the scenes that I have completed, rather than an arbitrary number of words. Getting a unit or a complete piece done seems to motivate me more.

When determining how to set these goals, what works best for your process? We're all different. If you are not a platter, but you're more of a pantser or discovery writer, your goal may be just to write for two hours every day.

Time-Bound

I'm going a little out of order on our acronym and skipping ahead to the T for Time-bound. In the original version, it was called timely, but it means the same thing. I'm skipping ahead because the Time-bound aspect of goal-setting relates so closely to the Specific and Measurable components.

I've already mentioned time when we were talking about the measurable component. If you want to complete three scenes in a week, the week part is the time component. So, not only do we want our goals to be measurable, we also need to do that amount of work in a set period of time.

Maybe you want to finish your novel in a year. Well, that's measurable. You can tell if you've completed the book or not. And a year would be the time constraint.

Most of us will work better with a set deadline. Now, it can be fluid and flexible, but just knowing that's in place can help us to complete work more effectively. The Parkinson’s Law principle states that the amount of work we do will expand to fill the amount of time we allot for it.

So, if you give yourself a year to finish a book, it'll take you probably the whole year to do it. But if you only give yourself six months, you'll likely scramble to complete it within that six months. A job may be normally a two day job, but if we give ourselves a week, it'll probably fill up that week. That's one reason making our goals time-bound is so important.

This one's fairly easy to think of in terms of writing output. If you want to write 500 words, do you want to write 500 words in an hour? In a morning? In a day? Your process will be quite different depending on which timeframe you select.

But what kind of time constraints can you give yourself if you're submitting to publishers? If you want to send out ten query letters to agents, within what timeframe? How many publishers do you want to submit to this year? Once you know that, you can divide it up and give yourself smaller goals, and not try to do it all at once.

Achievable (and sustainable)

The letter A in our acronym stands for either Achievable or Attainable. I like using achievablebecause it gives us a framework for how to consider our goals. Are these things realistic? Can we actually do this in the time period we're giving ourselves?

Along with achievable, I like to add sustainable. A goal might be achievable, but if it is ongoing, like writing 500 words an hour, or three scenes a week, we want to make sure we can keep that going. We might be able to achieve this goal once, but are we going to suffer from burnout after a while and not be able to keep that pace?

Making goals achievable and sustainable can be even more important if you are writing alongside having a full-time job or raising a family or with your other life commitments that take up quite a bit of time. Otherwise, you'll feel overwhelmed and frustrated and quite defeated if you aren't able to keep going.

Back to our writing a novel in a year example, if you have a full-time job and only have time to devote to writing for an hour before the kids wake up, and then an hour or two after they go to bed, or on your lunch break, then writing a novel in a year might be difficult.

Now, that's not to say, it isn't possible. There are many prolific authors who write on this kind of schedule. It depends on your energy level, output speed, and what you can sustain. These people might be able to write 2,000 words in an hour or two, whereas for some people, it might take an hour or two to write 500. That's totally okay. It just depends on your process. Just ask yourself, “Can I sustain this goal over time?”

Relevant

And the R in the original acronym was realistic, but I think that's a bit redundant because achievable goals would be realistic. I like relevant better.

All that means is, for the goal you're setting, is it really going to help you make progress? Or is it just busy work?

For example, you're interested in trying out a new writing software. Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for technology and putting systems in place that make what we're trying to do better or streamline our process. But if you are in a crunch, trying to get a novel written, it's probably not a good idea to try a new writing app. I'm a huge proponent of using Scrivener, but if Microsoft Word is working for you and you're on a deadline, maybe wait until you finish that novel and then try out the new technology.

Examine where you are in the process and what you're trying to achieve to decide whether an individual goal will help you make true progress toward your big-picture efforts.

For instance, writer's conferences are fantastic, but sometimes, we need to examine whether attending one is really going to help us progress in the goals that we have right now. If you want to attend a writer's conference to learn and grow in the craft, and they are offering classes or workshops on subjects in which you know you need to improve, or if you want to pitch your book to publishers and some of the publishers or agents you're interested in will be attending that conference, then that conference is a great idea. But if its workshops are on topics that you've already mastered, or you're not ready to pitch yet, is it really going to help you make progress?

There are two broad categories in which we can lump the kinds of goals we may want to set as authors, project- or output-oriented goals and career-oriented goals.