Achieving Your Writing Goals
Basically, there are ten steps in achieving you r writing goals. Your tools in using those
steps will be two pens - one black ink, and one red - a spiral notebook, and a typewriter. The
black ink pen is for your initial notes and the red is for changes.
WRITE DOWN YOUR DAYDREAMS:
What kind of stories do you want to write? What are your personal daydreams? Therein
lie your first seeds for stories. No one else has exactly the same dreams. Write down those
dreams. Look them over and think about them. Are they concise? Would they make sense to
someone else? Could they pull the imagination of others into your dream worlds?
PRIORITIZE CHARACTER GOALS:
What are your characters trying to achieve? Head separate pages with the names of your
primary characters. Make three columns under each name. Head them with (1) plot (2) time
(3) conflicts.
In the first column you list the goals of the character. Prioritize each goal in relation to
the others. Which is most important to your main character? List the goals in descending order
of importance.
Remember, the ability of the character to compromise will depend largely on what
degree of importance s/he puts on each goal in relation to existing affections or dislikes of the
other characters. How do these goals conflict with the goals of the other characters? It is in this
conflict of goals that the start of your plot lies. Now that your seed has metamorphosed from
dream to plot, commit yourself to typing your plot line.
VISUALIZE YOUR PLOT ACHIEVED:
Nothing is earned without effort. You have to put the words down on paper and rewrite
until all the holes in your story are filled. But what you are doing while writing is daydreaming
on paper. Take your main character and make believe you are that character. Write the plot line
from your viewpoint as that other person. If you are just beginning as a writer it might be easier
to write your plot line as if it were a letter to a dear friend.
Take the next most important character and do the same. Remember that the antagonist
and the protagonist are going to see the same events in entirely different ways. They will put
their own interpretations on those events. The conflict between the two interpretations will be
added to the conflict of goals.
BREAK DOWN THE GOALS INTO TIME GROUPS:
How long will it take your characters to achieve what they are out to get? Is what they
want something which requires a lot of time consuming preparation, or is it something they can
accomplish fairly quickly? Not all character goals are likely to be way down the road, beyond
present sight.
On the paper with the columns put in the second column which
time group each goal falls into:
-
Long term --- 20 years from now.
-
Mid term --- 10 years from now.
-
Short term --- 1 to 2 years from now.
-
Monthly or Less
If their primary goals are long or mid term, head another page with the character's name
and goal and break the goal down into shorter steps. Now write down those steps. This will
help you to plot out what actions your characters are going to make.
Remember that no character operates in a vacuum. Every action of one character is
going to cause a reaction from one or more of the others. The extent of the action and reaction
will determine whether you are writing a short story, novella, full length novel, or a series.
In your third column under "conflicts" list those characters who will be in direct
opposition to the intended goal. Be sure that you note why this is so on that character's
individual page. There must be a good reason, and not just because you need conflict for the
story. If there isn't a solid reason behind the character's opposition you've only got a plot device,
not a solid piece of characterization.
KEEP THE NOTEBOOK WITH YOU:
This is pretty much self explanatory. It also goes hand in glove with the next step.
REREAD AND CONSIDER YOUR NOTES:
You should do this every morning before starting out for the day. Then, as you go about
your daily routine, allow the notes to simmer on the back burner of your subconscious. If
anything comes to you during the day stop for a moment and write it down in your notebook.
Don't depend on your memory - however good - you'll probably lose your idea if you do.
When you have a few spare moments or at your regular writing time, you will usually
find that your personal muse has a few more gifts for you. Write them down in the appropriate
place in your notebook.
MAKE DECISIONS WITH
YOUR WRITING NEEDS AS YOUR GUIDE:
Here again it is necessary to prioritize. In this case you must decide what is more
important to you. Writers are very rarely highly social people. We spend a lot of time alone by
choice. Do you want to go dancing or to write? Is writing your main activity away from job and
family or is it the bowling league? Your muse will decide you aren't really interested if you don't
put at least a half-hour every day into actively seducing her.
GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT WHEN YOU HAVE
ACHIEVED A MILESTONE TOWARD YOUR GOAL:
Your version of the Great American Novel hasn't sold. But you did get a couple of
poems and an article or two published. Congratulations! Give yourself credit for a step in the
right direction.
READ OTHER WORKS IN THE SAME GENRES:
This means not only other's works of fiction but also many reference books which will
give you the necessary background to your own story goals.
EVALUATION:
When you have finished each story as best you can, and have a clean typed copy, let it sit
in your files for four to six weeks while you work on something else. After you have distanced
yourself from your story, go back and go over each sentence with your red pen. You will
probably find a lot that needs rewriting. When that draft is retyped you need two or three other
writers to look at it. The next draft is the one you send out into the market place.
Commitment and action combined with a measure of talent are your means to achieve
writing success. These guidelines can aid you in getting started in that goal.
Return to the chap book.
Back to the library.