On January 1st, 2103 I set three resolutions:
#1 – I will write 1,000 words each day
#2 – I will learn a new language
#3 – I will release an iPhone app in the first 6 months of 2013
(You can read more details about these resolutions if you’d like to)
Since then, I’ve written 1,000+ words every day. Thats over 29,000 words. Wow. I’ve written mainly on DesignToStartup.com, BradyMower.com, my personal blog, and a few articles for panoramaLOVE.com.
But I’m considering changing that goal.
Its been tough – 1,000 words/day takes around an hour. Sometimes longer. And if I don’t finish in the morning, I write some more in the evening. In addition to the time it takes, it is also sometimes hard to write 1,000 words. Sometimes I run out of good ideas.
But the biggest thing is that I have 30+ drafts that aren’t posted yet. Why? Because that hour of writing time includes only a little bit of editing. If I were to publish those drafts as is, they wouldn’t be complete, and they wouldn’t be as well-written as they could be.
When I set my three resolutions, I did realize there would be some challenges. One of them was that 1,000 words was a lot, and I wrote: “Maybe I’ll end up adjusting my goal to 500.” That is what I’m considering right now.
I think that a goal of 500 words per day would allow me to write a good post AND edit it in around one hour. That way, I wouldn’t end up with so many unpublished drafts, and by taking time to edit I would hopefully post articles that would be easier to read, more focused, and hopefully more interesting.
If I change to 500 words/day instead of 1,000 words/day, does that mean I failed? Of course not. “Goals are stars to steer by, not sticks to beat yourself with.” I know I have it in me to write 1,000 words per day for the rest of the year. But I think that I’d be better off, and the things I write would be better off it I made an adjustment to my goal and wrote 500 words/day instead of 1,000.
So that is what I’m considering. I feel like it will be a good change to make. I feel like I’ll enjoy writing even more, and I will be able to publish those unfinished drafts. I just don’t like the feeling of having a bunch of work unfinished. I’d like to do better at starting and finishing things, and I think this adjustment will help me with that.