How to Plan Your Writing Goals for 2024 (FREE Downloadable Workbook)
I can’t believe it’s nearly 2024 already! 2023 has gone by so quickly, and I honestly don’t know how I’m on the last day of the year! I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t help but think back to everything I’ve done in 2023 and wonder how my writing has progressed!
How much time do you actually take to think about the progression of your writing craft?
I’m a naturally introspective person. I imagine there’s probably at least some correlation between writers and an introspective disposition, because you have to be able to examine your own feelings, thoughts and behaviours if you want any hope of convincingly writing those of your characters. At least, that’s what I tell myself!
That being said, I’m not that great at spending time really thinking about how my writing is going, what achievements I’ve made, where I need to concentrate more of my attention, where I need to cut myself some slack, and what I want to do with my writing in the foreseeable future.
How can we take time to make sure we’re making progress with our writing?
Since I’m a business owner, mum, wife, home owner, etc. etc. etc. sometimes my writing gets the least of my concentration and introspection, and months can go by without my really thinking about how my writing craft is progressing.
When it comes to my business, I’m much more proactive about making sure I perform quarterly 'performance appraisals’, to check in with where I am, how things are developing and if I need to make any adjustments to how I’m working.
So, a couple of years ago, I decided that, if I wanted the chance to try to be as intentional with my writing practice, then I needed to apply the same process to my writing practice! I had a look at my performance appraisal documentation and some others I found online, and I tweaked them to create a writing craft-specific performance appraisal.
Some of my writing friends were really interested in the idea, and so I thought it might be useful for any writer who is looking to be a little bit more intentional and introspective about their writing. I decided to ‘prettify’ it a little bit and make it readily available on my website for anyone who wanted it.
We love writing, so it’s worth our time and energy to be intentional about our writing plans!
As I was saying above, I find that time passes so quickly nowadays, and I sometimes lose track of everything that has been done (or not done!) in the past few months (or year... Don’t judge! 2023 was a lot.)
But I’ve used this performance appraisal off and on for the past couple of years and every time I do, I’m always surprised and impressed with how much more progress I’ve had in my writing practice than I realised, and I find that the act of sitting down for an hour or so and really thinking about where I want to be going helps me to be more intentional about how I want to spend my precious writing time.
This time of year, I always find myself getting a little introspective about the dying year and turning to things like this performance appraisal to remind myself how far I’ve come and how I can readjust to make sure I’m really capitalising on my time and energy to bring me closer to my goals and dreams.
A performance appraisal for your writing practice might be just what you need!
So, if you’re looking for a free, quick and easy way of becoming more intentional about your writing practice in 2024, I hope you find this workbook useful in really thinking about your writing goals and progress in 2024!
I wish you all the best with your writing!
Happy New Year!
Hi, I’m Alexandra.
I’m a developmental editor specialising in helping authors of fantasy, sci-fi and all kinds of speculative fiction bring their worlds to life, and make their books as immersive, compelling and enjoyable as possible!
Follow my blog for writing craft tips specifically tailored for speculative fiction authors.
