The first section in the Writer Mom Life Self-Publishing Workbook talks about your definition of success. Also called your “What” or simply, your goals.
If you’re struggling with defining what your goal is, or can’t seem to make it SMART the way we suggest, try thinking instead about a slightly different “what” question:
What does your ideal writer mom life look like? Your writing goals should be a way to get you to that life, in some tangible way.
A few additional “what” questions to get you started in picturing this life:
- What do you do in your free time besides write?
- What do you want your weekends to look like? Your weekends?
- What environment do you like to write in?
- What type of people are you the most comfortable around?
- What does your body need most to stay healthy?
- What forms of exercise do you enjoy?
- What kinds of vacations do you want to take?
- What kind of house do you want to live in?
- What school do you want your kids to go to?
By figuring out what is important to you, what you want your life to look like, it will be easier to see how writing fits into it. If you start with the goal before considering your life, then there will be unnecessary tension and stress.
Let’s say you want to dictate your books, because you want to write five this year and dictating tends to be faster for most people. However, if you prefer swimming as exercise, then you can’t use that time to dictate, the way that someone who prefers long walks could, for example. Instead, plotting your books may be a better way to increase your writing speed during the time you have.
Or, maybe you set the goal to attend a specific conference on the other side of the country, because “it’s what writers do.” This might not be the best goal for someone who isn’t comfortable around large groups and is terrified of flying. There are many virtual options, or smaller, local events that would still serve your networking/learning needs.
Someone who wants their kids to go to a top private school or take international vacations twice a year will have different income goals for their writing than others.
If your weekly word count goal is 10,000, someone who wants their weekends to be only for family time will have a different daily word count goal than someone who wants to write every day.
A final “what” question to consider:
What are your willing to give up to reach your goals?
By thinking about your ideal life, you’ve already identified your priorities. Things like “watching thirty hours of TV per week” or “eating take out every night” are probably not in there. So it shouldn’t feel like “giving up” something when it already wasn’t a part of the life you pictured for yourself.
The perfect writer mom life looks different for everyone. Whatever you want your life to look like is what your goals should be helping you achieve.
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