Interests, planning, and target-setting

“You have to pick a job that makes you forget the passing of time. This means you should enjoy everything about it, and this “everything” includes failure.”

It's one thing to spend 8 hours a day in an office, doing what you like, but it's quite another to decide about spending the rest of the day (until you fall asleep). This idea and the quote you read in the beginning, plus what was happening in my work and personal life, had me thinking about a second activity (and maybe a second career). But what?
It was around October 2017 that I messaged a well-mannered comedian on Instagram, sending him a few stage play ideas. I thought I had no chance, but he actually read, commented, and rejected all of them. I didn't care about getting rejected, but I cared about the comments and explanations. At last, concerning my interest in writing, he advised that I get educated and practice. Practice? My interest? What was he talking about?
Yes, it was right. I had forgotten all about one of my talents. But this wasn't the only reason I got back into writing. A few days after my conversation with that comedian, one of my friends called and asked me to write a short congratulatory text for his friend who had just gotten married. The favor he asked me was so urgent that he stayed on the line while I wrote, See? He didn't ask me to “search,” but he asked me to “say.” And I said!
After I hung up, I remembered my essays in school. Whenever the teacher gave us two topics, I used to write them both (not to brag, but I sold one of them). I also remember I used to write on a personal blog with a lot of daily views.
The main question was, “Should I start?”. It took me around a year to find the answer. Yes, of course, it was essential to consider the quote I began this article with, but it sure wasn't easy. I had to make sure. So I wrote every story idea I had in a Word document. Two pages with 11 font sizes and 1 CM margin indicated that I made the right decision.
I picked an idea and began writing. But writing a story was no blog writing. It was new to me. No matter what I did, I didn't go further than a few lines. There was no time, so I enrolled in a class. You might find it funny, but I wrote my first story after the first session. It was a pretty ridiculous one, but I didn't care. I HAD FINALLY WRITTEN A STORY.
How did I solve this problem? My mentor once asked me what my story was, and I replied, “A story should consist of a beginning and an end and should include a message or advice.”
“Who are you to give advice? Your one job is to tell a story, that's all. Who told you to give lessons to people? You got the first part right. A beginning and an ending. That's all.”
I spent three semesters of storywriting and two semesters of playwriting. I was also busy writing my stories and sometimes publishing them on my blog or sending them to my friends for feedback.
One day, when I was busy working in the office, my friend Hamed Mohammadkhani spontaneously suggested that I read “Walking in the fog” (Harakat dar meh) by “Mohammadhasan Shahsavari.” “A good read for you since you like writing,” he said. After he left, I searched, bought it, and started reading.
A few days after finishing it, while I was preparing the suggested books (by the writer), I saw a video of Mahmoud Dowlatabadi (Iranian novelist). In the video, he was talking about a writer's job. This ignited an idea in my brain. He said, “I learned everything by working” He also wondered why young writers read so much theory, stating that they should start writing, working, doing…
Something was forming in my unconscious, but I needed a stronger motive to believe it. In October 2020, I went to the central Bookcity (a great bookstore in midtown Tehran) to shop. When I got to the “New releases in fiction” table, I had an epiphany! There it was! My motive to write! I took a photo of the table. One day, If I published, It had to sit on that table.
Now I had enough motivation. But what to write? Where to begin? I messaged my mentor and asked him for advice on writing a novel. “Write short stories. Your writing is not mature enough for a novel yet,” He said with his unique perspicuity. I believed in him sincerely, So I set a target: writing a short story collection.
I decided that my book should have 200 pages. So I had to write around 12 short stories, three of which were already written and only needed revision. But the hard part was what came after the planning. Not only did 200 pages seem hard to achieve, but I wasn't very fond of the three short stories I had. I even considered deleting them. I was stressed right at the starting point. Finally, I pulled myself together and told myself, “what's the worst that can happen? It won't get published! So what?”
The events in my Personal life led me to a point where my motivation for writing a multi-volume novel increased. But getting to that point needed practice. My first practice was finishing the short story collection. So I put aside all my thoughts and dreams just to focus on that.
The first step was writing the plot for 12 stories. I wrote them on my one-day trip to Shiraz: on October 8, 2020. You may not believe I even had a Gantt chart. Yes, a full metal plan. I even set the alarm to remind myself of the short story collection every night. Each plot consisted of exposition, character building, picking the narrator, deciding the theme, writing, finishing, first, second, third, and fourth readout, selecting the final name, editing, and that's it. I did this to all my short stories, kind of a WBS. I designed a beginning, an end, and a timespan for each one.
I sure had disappointments. The first one was when I finished the first 15-page story within 20 days. Twenty days for just one story, 11 more to go. Only 15 out of 200 pages. I had to change the order of the stories to control the disappointments. I randomly distributed the ones I was sure about among the 12 stories.
The second disappointment occurred when I lost all my ideas between the two stories. It took around three weeks. My plan was hugely affected by my personal life, my mood, lack of mindfulness, etc., so I had to design an additional timespan to stop the planning errors I was facing. Writing this book was a project for me. I sure had delays. My first goal was to have it published by September 12, 2021. But I wasn't very good at bureaucratic processes and receiving licenses from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, which also caused delays.
Last, “For you, life” was finished on June 27, 2021. 240 pages. I called a few publishers, but no result. Some didn't cooperate, and some I rejected. I even refused one of them for making fun of the title (although it had good collaboration terms). Finally, on َAugust 24, 2021, I signed my contract with Hekmat Publications, and “For you, life” was published on my birthday, December 16, 2021.
In June 2021, when I wrote about my goals in an Instagram post, one of my friends (who used to make fun of my plans years ago) called me and said, “You truly know how to live…” and I guess he was right. But the point was I solely knew how to plan targets. You should pick a target that, even if you fail to reach, you won't consider your time wasted. Heard that?

“YOU. "