Last month, to focus my attempt at diving back into Fallen, I set myself a personal goal of 10,000 words. It's an astonishingly low goal, considering that Mending Heartstrings and G&H both started with 50,000-word months (during NaNoWriMo), but with my days averaging 200 words, it was a stretch. And unfortunately, I didn't reach it. I did, however, write about 7570 new words, which on its own is about double what I had before.
Having a tangible goal, even one that is relatively low, creates a marker against which to measure success, with clear signposts along the way. Keeping it reasonably matched both with my pace and foreseeable life commitments prevents the results from being depressing, even when I don't quite make it. To be fair, in March my goal was to make some amount of progress.
This month, I decided to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo, although really there isn't much difference between that and setting my own goal — except an additional way to track my progress. Officially, I've set my goal at the minimum of 10,000 words. Because I'll be out of town (and probably not writing) for over a week this month, my real goal is actually about 5,000 words (our little secret!). So I'm quite excited that this past weekend, I managed to write over 1,300 words!
The good news about NaNoWriMo programs is it's never too late to join, whether you're looking to revise your work, finish a WIP, or stick to the traditional route & write something new. Even if your April won't include writing, maybe taking a moment to think about entirely reasonable (or perhaps stretch) goals will help you focus your efforts this month, and lead to that wonderful sense of accomplishment when the month comes to a close.
And if you're seeking that sense of community that Camp NaNo provides, share your goals in the comments so we can all cheer you on!
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