Beware the Dark Side . . .

Of Goals.

When I first started writing regularly, I had a page count goal. 10 pages every day. It took me about a year to realize that I kept ending every set of ten pages with a one liner at the top. Because that was easier then writing a whole tenth page.

So I started setting a word count goal. 2,000 words a day. And another year later, I realized that if I had the chance to write the same thought in a really long sentence or a shorter one, I would choose the longer one. Because it got me to my word count goal.

So I stopped counting words and started trying to put in 2 hours of writing a day. And you can guess where that went. I ended up "thinking" for a lot more of the time than I used to. And doing more "research on the internet."

And now here I am, trying to do chunks of a project each day, a couple of scenes in my head. Or doing an outline. Or finishing a section of an edit. I'm sure that there's a way for me to game this system, too. And I'll have to figure out how to make a new goal system instead.

The problem is that when you think in terms of a specific goal, you end up figuring out how to game that system. Students do this all the time when they are studying for standardized exams. The more you study and take them, the better you do. At least to a certain point.

Obviously, I don't have a solution to this problem, but I point it out to those of you who are working on NaNoWriMo so that you can watch yourselves and see if you are developing any bad habits in your quest to get in your word count.

NaNoWriMo is great for making people sit down and actually work on their project. Working on something is usually how you get it done. Except when it's not. Going off in the wrong direction when you have a sick feeling something is wrong is not going to help you finish your novel.

You may have to backtrack.

You may discover that you aren't a pantser and need to work on an outline. Or work on an outline several times in the process. And that might not count toward your word count.

You may need to do some character work.

You may need to read a few more books in your genre before you have a good idea of how to finish one.

There are lots of ways to get things done. Just don't get trapped in thinking there is only one.