I'm learning that it's also really important to know when to modify them.
I'm rewriting the last third of my WIP. It only became clear to me this weekend that this is a rewrite, not a revision. If my WIP were a landscape, it would be undergoing deforestation. Swathes of text are going away. It's scary. Working in a blank document helps--nothing is permanent. I can go back and try again if I don't like how this turns out.
But back to goal setting: I had set a goal to complete a work-through of my WIP by the end of this weekend. I even wrote it in my planner. I looked forward to finishing up on Sunday, feeling satisfied by where my WIP would be at, making a check mark in said planner, and awarding myself an imaginary gold star. I'd take a day or two off before I dive back in for round 2 of edits.
Then on Saturday afternoon I realized that there was NO WAY I was going to get to the end this weekend, even though I was working so diligently. Mainly that was because I haven't figured out yet how the end should happen. Doh. I'm a plotter, and I was attempting to pants a rewrite to power through it. Not a good idea.
I spent the rest of Saturday frustrated and doubtful. Loose ends in my stories stress impatient-me out. I had to accept, though, that it's not possible to breeze through revisions and rewrites. Struggles are part of the process. Sometimes you have to wander down the wrong path to see which way the story should go. You need time to figure out what changes work. Sometimes you need to go back to the plotting board for a few days. Flexibility is important. The takeaway: Goal-setting when revising is perhaps not as straightforward as goal-setting for drafting.
So I crossed out that goal in my planner. Instead, I set an intention to work steadily, and give myself the time I need to do this right. I sat down with blank paper and starting plotting. I think I know where I'm writing toward now. Hopefully, the result will be a revised and partially rewritten MS that is everything I want it to be. When I'll have that--who knows, but I'll get there eventually. And then I will buy some gold-star stickers.
10 comments:
I have SO MANY Saturdays like those - when I realize I will never meet that goal I set. So I do what you did. It results in at least some productivity! And yay for gold stars! We all need to reward ourselves. :)
I'm sort of horrible with setting goals for my writing, and I'm not sure why. Goal-setting works for me with other things, but lately not so much with writing. When I first started working on this WiP I set the goal of writing no less than 1000 words per day and that seemed to work. I guess now that I'm so close to the end I need to set some new achievable goals. Thanks for the reminder, Rebecca :) I'm hoping that revising won't morph into rewriting for me. Hope yours is coming along nicely :)
"Struggles are part of the process. Sometimes you have to wander down the wrong path to see which way the story should go." This is so, so true, for plotters and pantsters.
I've got a goal to finish a first draft by the end of the month - right now I'm in I'll-never-finish panic mode!
But I've done more work on this book in the past few weeks than I've done in months. I need to see the silver lining and stop my spazzing :)
Wow, our weekends sound almost identical. I totally made it a goal to finish revising/rewriting my WIP by the end of the weekend, and I didn't get my gold star either :(
Working steadily is a much better way to frame the goal. Good luck to you in the rewrite!
I think it's so much more important to be honest with yourself about where your book is at a given moment, then to try to hit a goal. On the other hand, you want goals to keep you in check. I do a combination that's a lot like you describe: I have goals, printed out, in my monthly to-do lists, but when it's not there I accept it and don't beat myself up about it. It's so nice to hear how others approach this stuff. :0)
I've had to push my rewrite timeline back as well. Who would've thought rewriting would be HARDER than writing? Here's to both of us reaching our goals without losing our minds. :)
YOU CAN DO IT!
Thanks for all the votes of confidence! May all our revisions/rewrites bring us gold stars. :)
I've had this experience many times before. I also like setting goals and deadlines and it can be frustrating when it becomes impossible to make them. It's good to be flexible. Good luck with your rewrite!
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