Setting Writing Goals for the New Year
How do we set our goals and what are they for 2024?
Happy New Year! Let’s take a look back at 2023 and a look forward at 2024. How do we set writing goals for ourselves and what do our goals for next year look like? How do we define our writing goals throughout the year?
Our Goal Setting History
Vicky: The first time I set writing goals was my very first year of writing, when I attended the 2017 SCBWI Asilomar conference (where I met my critique partners, Christine and Faith!). They have this awesome silent fire ceremony (okay, some people find it hokey, but I love it) where you write your goals on two slips of paper and throw one copy into the fire and keep the other. I loved having the time to reflect and set those goals on fire, literally. But ever since the pandemic, I haven’t had the chance to partake in the fire ceremony!
But I still try to set goals every year, keeping the spirit of that ceremony, even though my goals are just written in a digital document now.
Christine: Unsurprisingly, my first time setting goals was also in 2017 at Asilomar! I went back to the conference in 2022 so I was able to take part in the fire burning ceremony again. I love thinking about what I want the year ahead to look like.
So what makes a good goal?
Generally, we agree that a good goal must be within your control. For example, “write a picture book manuscript” as opposed to “sell a picture book manuscript.” I generally use my goal setting as a time to articulate things that have been bouncing around in my head, to make a dedicated commitment to the ones I want to pursue.
Looking back—How did we do on our 2023 goals?
Did you hit your 2023 goals, Vicky?
I hit two of my three goals. But I’m pretty excited about them, so I don’t feel bad about the third! There were my goals:
Write an early graphic novel—Done and sold!
Write a TV pilot—Done and pitching!
Write a novelty book—Okay, I didn’t do this one. At all.
I suppose I put more time into the TV stuff than I expected to this year. And lately, I’ve been wanting to work on something longer and didn’t have a great novelty book idea brewing, so I didn’t have the fire to complete that goal.
How about you, Christine?
Well it turns out I deleted my goals from my notes app (where I keep everything important) so that tells you how that went. But I know that my main goal was to complete a middle grade manuscript and while I definitely wrote enough words for a whole manuscript, they were split across multiple unfinished drafts. Not one of them completed.
What are our goals for 2024?
Vicky: I feel like my goals are pretty similar to last year. Generally, I kind of look at my body of work and think about where there are gaps, and what I’d like to see in that body of work. And any uncompleted goals to roll over. So right now, my goals are:
Write a novelty book? (I’m mostly just flowing this over from last year, and I think this is an on-brand challenge for me, but I still don’t have a burning idea.)
Write a draft of a new book (PB, MG, or GN)—Because I am launching a new chapter books series next year (Yay, AVA LIN!) and a new early reader graphic novel series the year after (Yay, ONE MAD CAT!), I’m hoping to write something in one of these other categories to round things out.
Grow and learn as a TV creator, continue pitching—My TV stuff is slowly getting traction, so I want to keep it going! But maybe it will all fizzle out, who knows. More on this in a future post.
Christine: Well I’m going to nail my middle grade this year for sure! I’ve actually tried a new approach to goal-setting this year. Julia Rothman (via
and her 30 Day Drawing Habit program) uses a More/Less framework to plan the year ahead so here’s my very rough sketch with my plan for the year.
Do you set mini-goals for yourself during the year?
Vicky: I do tend to set up mini-goals, mainly when I know I have a chunk of time coming up and I want to define how I will use it. This may be a retreat, or it may be just a gap in my schedule when I’m waiting on editor feedback. And of course, I have mini-goals set for me with ongoing book deadlines.
Christine, do you set mini-goals for yourself?
I often do 30 day challenges, like 30 days of drawing, or 30 days of movement. It so happens I’m doing both of those things in January but I think I’d like to try more of that through the year too. Like Vicky, I try to set a goal for something like a retreat but I’m also fine with spending that time relaxing!
Over to you, what goals do you have for the year ahead?
Let us know in the comments! And take a look at our content plans for 2024. Maybe there’s a post coming up that will help you meet your goals!
Love to see the real aspect of yearly resolutions where sometimes we make them, sometimes we don’t and sometimes we roll them to the next year!