Writing - Goals, Dreams, Fantasies

When I started off on my writing journey, I did not have goals or dreams, and I hadn't fantasized about where this might take me. All it amounted to was me committing some stories to paper and seeing how I felt about it. I merely had a mission: to write. Once a few people looked at my writing (and after they pointed out the wealth of mistakes), a few acknowledged that it was "better than half the crap out there." That is what it ultimately took for me to take things a step further and designate myself as a "writer." And by doing that, I started having fantasies, building dreams, and setting goals. It took me a lot longer to realize which of my thoughts went into which category. So, on that note, let's discuss.

Goals: A goal is any part of the writing process you target, anything you hope to do. The important part in discerning what a good goal is usually falls under the concept of control. "Getting published" is a lousy goal because you don't have any control over what the publishers produce. You can write the best novel in the world, but without a good agent it won't go far, and that's not your fault. Keep your goals fully under your control. "I will write a short story this month," "I shall finish the first draft of my novel in a year," "I shall search for a development editor to help me better craft a story." These are all goals that a writer can achieve, and as we accomplish them, we entrench ourselves within the idea that we are writers.

Dreams: Before I get into this, something can be a dream yet be very achievable. As opposed to my late-night dreams where I am flying through my old high school, which now has ten stories for some reason and is continuously on fire, a writer's dreams should be aspirational in nature, and focus on those targets that require something more than just doing it. Getting your story in print or winning a writing contest qualify as dreams - you have a degree of control over them, but some external force will validate your writing as well. Dreams only have to be possible to qualify, but keep a realistic framework around them. Not every local anthology will accept your story for publication, you can't win every contest. Furthermore, in the beginning, you will get a lot of rejections and not win contests - that's fine, as long as you recognize you are pursuing your dreams. After that, it's all about finding ways to further yourself toward achieving that dream.

Fantasies: These are the things that likely won't happen because they rarely happen to anyone (though are very possible). Becoming the next Stephen King or Anne Rice is highly unlikely. Signing a two-book deal with a major publishing house after your first book becomes a bestseller - very doubtful. Netflix picking up the option on the screen rights to your work - probably not going to happen. However, it has happened, and in theory could happen again. These fantasies are important because they serve one pretty cool purpose: As long as you write, they are possible. As long as you diligently type, there is a chance of that multi-book contract. Once you stop - fantasies vanish, and nobody wants that.

Keep a list of your set of goals somewhere by your writing area, and look at it every day to remind yourself you are a writer. Give yourself a minute to think about what it will be like if one of your dreams comes true (except for that burning high school thing), and let that feeling move you. And as you progress, always tap yourself on the shoulder as a reminder that fantasies do come true.