I “almost” made my writing goal this weekend. Not quite. Well… Let’s be serious… I wrote about a paragraph.
I had a goal this weekend to write a measly two thousand words. In NYC last weekend I bought myself this incredibly awesome keyboard for my iPad. Other than my needing to get used to the Shift key (its small), I love it a lot an use it all the time when I’m writing.
I figured setting a small goal would work out this weekend. Sadly it did not. I’m sure I could have found time to make this goal, but I procrastinated and didn’t try. Also my daughter got sick, and I spent most of today at my parents. So my duties other than writing took over.
And it kind of upsets me because I don’t want t slack off on the writing. Ive made such great headway so far, and I am falling more and more in love with my story with each word I write, but I worry that I wont be able to make it done within the timeline I’ve set out for myself. Am I pushing myself too far trying to write ten thousands words a week? There is so much I am supposed to do in my normal day to day life that I worry that I am setting myself up for failure.
How do you guys deal with goals you’ve set up? Do you always achieve them? How do you feel when you don’t?
For now I know I can’t write much more. My daughter is curled up on the couch bundled in a blanket when it’s 26 degrees in the house. Mommy duties call.
Fingers crossed I can make my word goal this week.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend folks!
By Amanda Leigh 
“Almost” totally counts.
While you have a goal, and you are committed to it, it will not always be met. Primarily, as you noted in your post, due to life.
There are times when I have a backlog of things to post. I want to get to one a day over several days, but it just doesn’t work out because of family needs or other issues. Sometimes my head just isn’t with it.
You never know when you will have to stop writing and take care of more important affairs. And, those affairs always pop up when you have dedicated time to take care of business and reach your goal.
There are also days when you just can’t get in the mental frame to write. You are human! You will be fired up again in no time, don’t worry.
You are doing the best you can. Don’t beat yourself up over missing a goal over the short-term. Keep at it! You are doing great! 🙂
Thank you very much for your encouraging words… Some days its harder to keep focus when it seems like everything is against you.
Tomorrow is another day, I will d my best to keep my head up and go in without worry…
And you never know when the timing will be right…. some days you can get inspired and write thousands of words over your goal, like you’re in some sort of groove, and other days it’s torturous just to write a line or two. (I’m not a creative writer but I’m basing myself on how it was writing my thesis). And sometimes you have to stop yourself from editing as you go, which was a big issue with me; I got a lot more done when I would just write without stopping, without re-reading… I would let it sit for a day or two, and then go over it with a clear head. Whatever works! xx