My SMART Writing Goals for 2021

I have decided that this year is going to be filled with writing breakthroughs for me. I will become a published author and get my freelance gigs off to a flying start. Below are some of the goals I have outlined for the year and how I will get there.  

Blogging

I am still figuring out my writing niche, and I enjoy writing stories and poems – so I will keep doing that here.  I just plan to post more frequently than I did last year.

Goal: Grow blog followers to at least 200 by the end of the year.  

How I will meet this goal:  

1. Post twice every week.
2. Write unique posts to be published only on this blog.
3. Write an e-book about writing tips to build subscribers and send a monthly newsletter with all the content I have published.    

Instagram

I set up the Instagram page for my writing, and so far it has gone from strength to strength. Instagram brings in the most traffic to this blog – in comparison to the other channels.  To date, I have 246 followers, and I think I should work harder to build more brand awareness.   

Goals: 

• Grow followers to 1k by the end of the year.
• Increase engagement month on month.

How I will meet these goals:

1. Host a live session once every month.
2. Spend at least an hour during lunchtime engaging with my existing followers.
3. Like and share 1 or 2 relevant posts every day.  
4. Post at least twice every week.
5. Search for relevant hashtags to use in posts every time I post.
6. At the end of each post, write out a call to action to encourage people to follow the page (e.g. Follow @ibs_writes for writing tips). 

Become a published author

I am working on a total of three books—all of which I have detailed below. I also plan to get at least two of these published this year.

A short story

I wrote a short story, and I have meant to get it published; after re-reading it, I decided to change some things.

Goal: Complete this and publish it here on this blog – under a paywall.

How I will meet this goal:  

1. Start re-writing this by the end of the month!
2. Get this edited professionally.
3. Share with a small group of beta readers before publishing.

A novel about a married couple going through some challenges:

I started working on this last year while on a plane (pre-covid lockdown). Then, I got stuck and began to rethink some parts of the story.  I will return to finishing my first draft once I get some much-needed answers.

Goal: To get some answers and complete my first draft by the end of the year.

How I will meet this goal:

1. After the short story is published – start working on this.
2. Research during downtime by reading relationship articles and exploring all the themes in the novel.
3. Partake in Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month), which takes place in November to finish the first draft by December.

A novel titled – Olufemi’s Diary

I started writing a story in a dairy narrative voice from a teenage girl’s perspective. I used to love reading these types of books when I was a teen.

Goal:  Publish a few chapters and get feedback + build audience who are committed to reading this book.

How I will meet this goal:

1. Write this in a series format on Medium.
2. Publish this every week.
3. Build a following off the back of steps one and two.

Medium

Since last year, I have been publishing my short stories & poems on Medium. I also join the Medium Partnership Program, which means that I get paid every time a Medium paying member reads my content.

Goals

• Grow Medium followers to 1,000 by the end of the year.  
• Increase income from Medium from the small change I am currently earning to at least 100 every month.  
• Start a medium publication of my own and share my content there.

How I will meet these goals

1. Spend one hour every day engaging with articles on Medium.  
2. Write and publish two long-form articles every week on a well known Medium publication.
3. Publish one new poem every week on a Medium publication.
4. Write about the following things and aim to become a top writer on the following topics, writing, life lessons & self-growth, fiction, and poetry. 

Freelancing

I was meant to get started on this last year; I somehow got side-tracked. During the Christmas break, I set up my Upwork profile, and I am on my way to getting a freelance gig.  

Goal: Have a regular paying freelance gig on the side by the end of the year.

How I will achieve this goal

1. Spend at least four hours every day searching for projects via Upwork
2. Submit other long-form articles to paying publications & magazines. 
3. Create a ‘hire me’ page on my website detailing all my paid service work.
4. Create an e-book to build subscribers / committed readers who may also buy my book.

..And finally

Does it sound like I am spreading myself pretty thin? I probably am. I know that I may not get around doing all of these things, but I will make a start. If I meet a few of these goals, I will be well on my way to diversify my income stream.

I hope that by sharing my writing goals for this year, you can also write out yours. Let me know how you get on in the comment section below.

Has your writing journey come to a halt? Try setting some goals and actioning these with small tasks like I have in this post. 

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