Writerly Musings

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Setting Goals and Giving Thanks

First things first, I'd like to thank those of you who visit and comment. It's really kind of nice to think I'm not having long drawn out conversations with myself. I love the interaction and the insights I've gained and I appreciate many of the blogs that you all have as well.

Now to the discussion that seems to be resonating throughout a good portion of the writing community--setting goals. This is not always an easy thing for writers because we are our own worst enemies sometimes when it comes to overextending ourselves and the mad dash to get everything turned in on schedule and nicely written. My goal has always been to have a steady stream of work coming in and to meet all deadlines. It doesn't seem like much when you think about it, but it's better than other goals I have had in the past and it helps alleviate somewhat the entire feast or famine routine that many writers experience on a regular basis. I know I have been a victim of this in the past until I set priorities and began enforcing a schedule of constantly seeking new work no matter how heavy my work load.

Most of the time this works quite nicely for me. I spend the first hour or two each morning seeking new work or future work. This was once my most productive time of the day but the children now seem to get up with me no matter how early I get up. This means that nothing gets accomplished until everyone is out the door to begin their days and it's just me and the wee one home. She is by far the quietest of the bunch on most days (teething days don't count) and the most willing to allow me to work. Of course, she's seen me working all her little life and is accustomed to it, the others have had me completely to themselves before and are jealous of my time spent on the computer. This doesn't mean that she and I don't get plenty of affectionate cuddle time--this is the beauty for working from home.

Getting back to the topic at hand, by spending that time early in the morning seeking future work, I don't have the famine following the big projects and I keep a steady stream of work on the table. There are times that I am not completely booked and there are other times when I've had to turn down or negotiate projects because my table has become a little too full (not that I would ever complain about that). I tend to be more willing to 'squeeze' regular clients in than those I haven't worked with before and am building a steady stream of fairly regular clients. I still bid on jobs and seek new clients, I think it would be foolish not to constantly seek new sources of revenue as you never know when source may dry up. I also take some projects for the joy factor.

My financial goals are not all that glorious. My goal this year is to bring home half of my husband's salary while building up enough regular clientelle to equal his earnings next year (he's a computer programmer) so that maybe he'll quit talking about me getting a 'real' job when the littlest goes to school. He's beginning to take my work seriously but still gets aggrevated whenever I have to work at night (it happens sometimes, less now than before but it can't always be avoided).

So my goals are to have a constant supply of work, to continue finding new clients, to create a web site to showcase my work (there never seems to be enough time), to meet husbands income (2-year goal), and to convince friends and family that the fact that I am home does not necessarily mean I'm available while convincing my husband that this isn't as easy as he thinks it is and it's okay if the house isn't perfect every night when he comes home (he really should be grateful that it hasn't been blown up). My final goal is to remember that I am doing this to be with my family and not tied to the computer.

Hopefully, having definitive goals written down for the world to see will help keep me on task and on target (particularly with the building of a website). So what are some of your goals?

Posted by Andrea :: 10:41 AM :: 2 Comments:

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