S.M.A.R.T. Goals for Smart Writers

Are you setting goals for your writing?

Ever heard of SMART goals?

I was introduced to SMART goals a few years back when I worked as a case manager and I haven’t shut up about them since. They’re just that great!

A lot of people out there will tell you that goals are important. A goal is how you turn a dream into reality. Goals get things done.

This is true.

But are you setting the right goals?

Don’t panic on me here. I think goals are awesome and you should be excited about them no matter what format (or lack of format) they have. But today I want to share with you how SMART goals can help us to clarify what we want and create higher odds that we will succeed in getting it.

Sound good?

Let’s take a look.

Basically SMART Is an acronym used to create goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

I’m going to unpack these a bit so we can dig a bit deeper into what exactly that means, but first I want to give a shout out to George T. Doran who first published these terms in 1981 as well as Peter Drucker who developed these concepts. There is a wealth of information available regarding SMART goals and how to use them so definitely look into it further if you’re interested. 

Alright, let’s begin.

1. Specific

Vague goals are more like wishes. For instance: “I want to get better at writing.” While this statement might be true, it’s just too broad to give you a good starting point for action. It’s hard to get a good handle on what you want to actually accomplish or why you want to achieve it.

Instead we need to try to be clear in what we are attempting to do.

Do you want to finally complete a first draft of your story? Publish a book? Do you want to improve your revising skills? Add depth to your character building?

Take some time to decide what it is that you want and what it is you may need to overcome to get there.

For instance: “I want to improve my writing skills in order to complete a first draft of my story, so that I can publish a novel.”

Maybe not perfect but we’re getting a bit more clarify here. Another word sometimes used in the acronym here is “Strategic.”

2. Measurable

This one is super important because unless a goal is measurable we can’t track it. We can’t see our progress, address lack of progress, or celebrate our achievements unless a goal is measurable. This keeps our goals firmly planted in reality.

Do you want to take a writing class? That’s measurable.

Do you want to send your draft out to five beta readers? That’s measurable.

Do you want to sit at the table and write for half an hour every day until your rough draft is finished? Yup you’ve got it, that’s measurable.

To add to our goal from earlier, you can decide which writing skills you want to improve on and define what needs to be done or how you will know when that is accomplished, such as: “I want to write five pages every day until I complete my first draft.”

These are measurable steps and you can easily gauge when the goal is completed.

3. Achievable

What did you want to be when you were a kid? I wanted to be an astronaut. And I was so glad my parents encouraged me to pursue the things I was interested in! (Thanks Mom and Dad!) Eventually I decided space travel wasn’t going to be for me but it was fun to learn about the solar system and look into it 🙂 

It’s good to dream big dreams! And to challenge ourselves to reach for things that are scary and hard! However, there are times when our goals may be things that are not realistic. It’s good to honestly look at our goals to determine what makes sense. 

Making a goal achievable means that while we want the goal to be challenging we also want it to be possible. Other words sometimes used here are Attainable, Ambitious, and Action-oriented.

For instance, it may not be reasonable to make a goal to complete a first draft of your novel in a day.

We also need to be careful not to make goals that depend on things outside of our control. For example, “Win this writing contest,” is a goal that may be contingent not just on your own work but also on the work of others and the particulars of the judges and program. Instead your goal to enter a competitive piece is completely under your own control.

4. Relevant

This step is a heart check of sorts.

We want to make sure that this goal matters to you and that it is in line with other tasks or goals you may be pursuing.

Is your goal of completing that first draft of your novel at odds with the fact you are in the middle of renovating your house or completing your senior thesis?

Do you actually want to complete your novel or are you just doing it because you always told your mother that you would?

There aren’t usually right or wrong answers to these questions but it’s important to take a moment (or two or three!) and think about what is important to you and make sure this is what you want. Because making a plan and following through with it is going to take work!

Other words for this section are Realistic, Resourced, and Reasonable.

5. Time-bound

To complete our goal we need to add a target date. This isn’t some task to be done “sometime” anymore. When does it need to be completed by?

Things we want to happen “at some point” often end up happening at no point. Without a deadline things often don’t get done.

Projects can to be divided between long term goals and short term goals that can then be broken up into daily and weekly tasks. Where do you want to be in a year? Six months? Next week? Figure out what works for you. 

And looking closer, you want to be asking yourself what you need to do today.

Suddenly we have items to complete now that will work toward the tasks we want finished by the end of the week which build toward our goals of the year. That’s progress people!

Other words used here can be Timely, Trackable, and Time-sensitive.

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It’s important to note that these goals should be re-evaluated periodically, re-adjusted as needed, and any setbacks should be met with grace. These strategies are for our benefit and not to be used to make us feel guilty or to keep us trapped doing planned tasks that no longer fit our goals. 

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There you have it, folks! SMART goals for smart writers like you and me 😉

What about you: do you use these SMART aspects in your planning? What works (or doesn’t work) for you? Please share below- and if you have any examples of your SMART goals I would love to hear them!