Write down your writing accountability goals

[image error] Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash

Many times people ask me how to write a book. What they really mean is how do I make time to write. It’s not easy. There is always something else I could do. There are a million reasons not to write and only one reason to write: because it matters to me. I have lots of tools that I use to keep my writing organized. There’s one that I use to hold myself accountable: concrete, actionable goals.

Each week, I write down specific writing goals for that week. I make them specific, actionable, and time-sensitive. Then I take those weekly goals and turn them into daily goals that when added up get me to that cumulative weekly goal. Each weekly goal folds into a larger goal—a book, a screenplay, adding to my writing portfolio, pitching more of my work, etc.

Writing down my writing goals makes them real. Once I write them down, I have to do them. There’s magic in motivation we can see.