Meet Your Writing Goals This Year with These Valuable Tips

by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

Have you set writing goals for the year? 

Are you excited about your big plans?

Or did you think about it and decide there was no way you were setting goals because you haven’t stuck with a New Year’s Resolution since 1993?

Regardless of your answer, I’m trying something this year that you might want to consider. It’s called “24 for ’24” and I’m excited about giving it a go!

Before we begin, I need to give you three key pieces of information/definitions. 

1. The “24 for ’24” idea is not original to me. It’s from Gretchen Rubin and it applies to far more than writing. You can read all about it here. 

2. MTB stands for Manuscript Time Block. This is also not an original idea. I learned this concept from Becca Syme of Write Better-Faster. We’ll talk about the MTB concept in more detail in February. For now what you need to know is that an MTB is 30 minutes of manuscript time. 

3. Low Bar/High Bar. I’m not sure who gets original credit for this concept. I learned about it from a Bullet Journal designer that I follow on YouTube, JashiiCorrin. We’ll talk about this idea more in March, but the basic idea is to set a low bar and a high bar when you’re setting your goals. 

Now—let’s talk about #24for24.

When I first saw the challenge to “write 24 minutes a day every day in 2024” my first thought was, “No.” 

I’m serious. I’m not a “write every day” writer. I might write every day for months, but after my deadline has been met, I’m more of a “write when I need to or feel like it”writer. 

But then I read more about the idea behind “24 for ’24” and realized that this concept not only could work for me but could work for just about anyone. 

Why? Because it is completely customizable and flexible based on your own situation and dreams. 

#24for24 can mean anything…from 2-4 minutes a day in 2024 to 2-4 times in 2024 to 2-4 hours a month in 2024, etc. 

This 2-4 approach fits in with the low bar/high bar concept you can use when setting your goals. You give yourself a low bar (2) and a high bar (4) and either way, you’ve succeeded! 

So let’s talk about how we could use #24for24 specifically for writing:

1. 24 minutes every day in 2024. If this appeals to you, go for it. 

2. 2-4 minutes every day in 2024. What I like about this is that if your goal is to become a “write every day” writer, then 2-4 minutes is a manageable place to start. And because very often, you can use this method to trick your brain into a longer session. You give yourself permission to stop after two minutes. And if you aren’t feeling it, you stop and go on with your day. But you might find that 2 minutes turns into 20.

3. 2-4 hours every Saturday in 2024. Let’s say you’re a weekend warrior. This might work for you if your main writing day is Saturday.

You get the idea. The options are as endless and as unique as you are!

Now, how am I going to apply this to my writing life? 

My #24for24 goal is 24 MTBs a month in 2024. As mentioned above, an MTB is a thirty-minute block of time spent working on my manuscript. By setting the goal for 24 MTBs a month, I give myself days off. I can skip writing on every Sunday and a few Saturdays and still meet this goal. To be clear, there will be many, many months where I blow this goal out of the water. When I’m on a deadline, this kind of goal is almost laughably easy. But my problem isn’t sitting down to write when I’m on a deadline. My problem is working consistently when I’m NOT on a deadline. So that’s why this is a good fit for me. 

Of course, I didn’t stop with using this for my actual writing. I expanded it to my greater writing life. I’m using this to plan my goals for reading, personal growth, strengthening my craft, and much more. 

So I’m going to leave you with a few writing adjacent ways you could use the #24for24 concept in your goal setting. All of these are dependent on YOU and YOUR personal goals. None of this is prescriptive. I’m just trying to give you ideas to get your own internal motivation firing! And even though you aren’t going to be reading this until January 4, 2024, it isn’t too late to start! 

1. Craft/Growth

• 1. Attend 2-4 conferences/classes in 2024. These could be big national events or local offerings, in person or virtual.

• 2. Read 2-4 books on the craft in 2024. Or be more aggressive and read 2-4 a quarter in 2024. 

• 3. Read 24 new-to-you authors, 24 books in your genre, 24 books outside of your usual genre, 24 books that won major awards last year, etc. If you’re focused on a particular publishing house, read 24 books they published in the last 24 months. 

• 4. Make 24 appointments with yourself in 2024 to focus on your writing. Put them on your calendar. Don’t let anything interfere. 

2. Pitching/Connecting

• 1. Query 2-4 agents in 2024. 

• 2. Post 2-4 times a week on social media, send 2-4 newsletters a month/quarter/year, write 2-4 blog posts a month, etc. 

• 3. Follow 2-4 new-to-you authors/influencers on social media who are doing things in a way that you want to emulate or who write in the genre you write in. 

• 4. Leave 2-4 comments (a week/a month) on your favorite author/agent/publishing house posts, blogs, etc. 

I’d love to hear how you might use #24for24 in your own writing life! 

Grace and peace as you launch into 2024!

Lynn

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Don't Miss the Rest of Lynn's Posts on Goal Setting!

January: Meet Your Writing Goals This Year with These Valuable Tips
February: Tips to Divide Up Your Writing Time Into Valuable Chunks

March: Low Bar/High Bar Goal Setting for Writers

Lynn H. Blackburn is the award-winning author of Unknown Threat, Malicious Intent, and Under Fire, as well as the Dive Team Investigations series. She loves writing swoon-worthy southern suspense because her childhood fantasy was to become a spy, but her grown-up reality is that she's a huge chicken and would have been caught on her first mission. She prefers to live vicariously through her characters by putting them into terrifying situations while she's sitting at home in her pajamas! She lives in Simpsonville, South Carolina, with her true love, Brian, and their three children. Learn more at www.lynnhblackburn.com.