Goal Setting for the Fluid Creator

No, they're not "SMART" goals

This photo will make sense in the context of this post. I promise. (Photo by Thomas Schweighofer on Unsplash)

I got a question in the comments on my post about My Typical Work Day, and I thought it was worth answering in a full post:

How do you set big goals for yourself in a "follow the river" process? Or do you? Do you set yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly, or daily goals for your writing? And, if so, what do those look like for you and how do they work with your fluid process?

Let’s go back in time to 2021 to answer this question…

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Ditching Goals

The reason I first discovered the “follow my river” process (as described in the Typical Work Day post) is because just over three years ago, I got fed up with goals.

Well, I should say I got fed up with myself for never hitting them. I even wrote an entire newsletter about my failures.¹

That newsletter prompted a few people to email me suggesting I check out the work of Becca Syme, and I fell deeply into all of Becca’s many resources. Her approach toward “writing alignment” resonated so deeply with me, that I can say with 100% confidence, it completely transformed my life.

Now I should also add that it took time. I didn’t just “consume Becca’s many resources” and suddenly I was a new Sooz. I had to work at it. I had to retrain my brain to stop fighting its natural instincts and intuition. I had to let go of a lot of most of the assumptions I’d based my entire career and my entire writing identity around.

But here I am: the happiest, most productive writer I’ve ever been. (Thank you forever, Becca and team!)

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Is SMART actually smart?

Look, if the whole SMART goals things works for you, then just skip this section. Everyone is different, and if you’re happy with your creative life, I am ABSOLUTELY not here to tell you to do anything differently.

But, if you’re like I was a few years ago—if micro goals and steadily churning at the keyboard each day aren’t working for you—then know: there are other ways. Your ways might not be my ways, but I am proof that you can make spectacular progress without adhering to anything close to a SMART goal.

And if you don’t even know what SMART goal is, then allow me to explain. It’s a term that I once believed was—as many do across all industries—the only Proper Way to set goals for oneself. You must make them Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound! Otherwise, you’re just setting yourself up for failure!

Or maybe you aren’t, actually. Maybe, in fact, those SMART goals are making you miserable because—like me—your brain just doesn’t operate within such strict lines.

The more specific I got with my goals, the less I seemed to able hit them. The more I focused on measuring progress, the less there seemed to be to measure. And time-bound? HA. Just go ahead and put my creativity in a cage, why don’t you.

Fortunately—and thanks to those of you who emailed me!—I was able to finally step outside of what I’d always believed was the only way to get something done.

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Mr. Fluid

We have a joke in my family that my dad is “Mr. Fluid” when it comes to dancing. He just goes where the music takes him, his limbs “fluid” and unashamed.

My brother, sister, and I always used to laugh at him for his Mr. Fluid ways…until we saw a video of ourselves dancing at his retirement party. And oh no. We are ALL Mr. Fluid. Each of his three offspring have inherited the same flimsy limbs and heartfelt groovin’ to the music.

Ah well, why fight it? Why fight what our dancing selves wants to do?

And on that same note, why fight what my writer self wants to do? If I’m so willing to let myself ditch specific dance moves and routines, why can’t I let my creative self do the same?

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Destinations Instead of Goals

Rather than set any kind of specific goal with my writing, I instead make a a number of Really Vague Destinations I’d like to get to within a Really Broad Timeframe.

I imagine it like I’m Frodo. Here I am, in the Shire, and waaaaaaaay over there is Mount Doom. I have to reach Mordor to deal with this ring, but the journey? Why, it’s fluid, baby! Maybe I’ll go through the Mines of Moria. Maybe I’ll head toward Isengard or Mines Tirith or the Dead Marshes or WHO KNOWS? That’s the whole point—I don’t know how I’ll get there.

I just know I will make it to Mount Doom.

Okay, Sooz. Thanks for the unnecessary LOTR reference. Can you please just show me what this looks like with your writing?

You betcha. It’s 2025, and for the year of 2025, here is what I want to accomplish in my writing life:

• Write a 9,000-word short story for an anthology (this is under contract—so I have to make sure it gets done by April)

• Finish The Executioners Three and Witchlight copy edits + pass pages (also under contract with attached deadlines—will wrap up in April)

• Get a new proposal to my publisher(s) — DONE

• Finish at least 2 books

• Stretch goal: Finish 3 books

That’s it. That’s as specific as I’m getting and the time frame I’m working in.

Now notice: I didn’t specify which books I want to finish in 2025. I have so many on my hard drive, and I’m constantly shifting between them all. It might be any of them that I open up and finally finish.

Or maybe it’ll be something completely new. I mean, heck, I’ve already had a new idea slam into me out of nowhere! It just appeared fifteen days ago, and somehow, I’ve written half a book in those fifteen days.

I was in no way expecting this—truly, this idea just careened into me on February 9. I have other things due (which I’ve also been hammering away at).

But my goodness, it feels so amazing to just write and write and write, and if I hit my goal of 2/3 of the book before shifting fully out of this story…

Well, that’s pretty significant headway toward my Really Vague Destination, don’t you think?

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Tracking Progress

I hate spreadsheets (which is hilarious since my past life in marine ecology was specifically in data modeling—meaning I spent most of my time staring at Excel).

I hate tracking word counts because on the days when my fluid dance moves are producing ideas instead of words (or are leading me to backtrack or revise or simply shift over to a newsletter instead), I get frustrated that I have to type 0 into the tracker.

Really frustrated. Because 0 doesn’t actually represent the work I put in. So much of writing involves not committing words to a page (at least for me).

On the flip side, because I change projects so often—multiple times in a single day, even—it’s all too easy to lose sight of just how much I’m really getting done. Er, which books did I make brainstorming headway in this week? How many newsletters did I write?

So now I keep a list on my Remarkable. As I finish something or hit a new milestone, I add it to the list.

Here, I’ll show you what February looks like so far (I’m hiding the names of two projects for Reasons):

Feb 3-9:

• Finished TE3 pass pages by hand

• typed in TE3 pass pages + turned in

• Newsletter video transcript + sent newsletter

• Luminerds cover reveal email/form

• Witchlight reveal email

• IG post of what’s next

• Brainstormed ********** short story

• *********** ******** brainstorming

• Witchlight cover reveal email

• Witchlight reveal graphics

• Taxes

• Updated/restarted Wattpad

• Brainstormed new idea, Blackbird

• Researched/read LitRPGs

Feb 10-16:

• Brainstormed Blackbirds

• Finished taxes

• Wrote 10K Blackbirds (after a few false starts)

• Witchlight cover reveal! IG + Newsletter

• Wrote another 7K in Blackbirds

Feb 17-23:

• Backtracked 7K in Blackbirds, and wrote another 5k

• LumiNerds email

• Witchlight copyedits (1/3)

• Updated Wattpad

• Hit 25K in Blackbirds

• IG post

• Hit 40k in Blackbirds (+ some more backtracking)

This list is not exhaustive. There are also LIFE things happening here, such as taking care of my kid; going to doctors and dentists appointments; family members coming to visit; friend meetups; extracurricular stuff for the kiddo; gaming; exercising; some home renovations; and more. So given all that…

I’m delighted by how much I’m getting done.

As you can see, the first week didn’t have much in the way of drafting—but I was doing a lot of admin, promo, and necessary brainstorming for a few different projects.

Then the aforementioned new idea hit. And KAPOW. The drafting numbers skyrocketed.

I have absolutely no idea what this next week’s tracking list will look like. Certainly there will be Witchlight copyedits + newsletters. But how far will I get in this new WIP of Blackbirds?

For all I know, the river will dry up tomorrow. Or maybe it’ll stick with me another few weeks. Either way, I’ll enjoy it while it lasts…and then change rivers as soon as I need to.

Or, if all rivers are running dry, I’ll spend a day or two just catching up on admin and promo—and try to prioritize some reading and gaming too.

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Contracts & Expectations

I can already hear my fellow authors and aspiring authors shouting: “Well, that’s great for YOU, Sooz, but I can’t do it this way.”

Well, I’m not telling you to do it my way. I’m simply telling you to look at your own methods and ask, “Does it have to be this way? And is this actually working for me?”

To quote Becca Syme, question the premise! Do you have to be on social media? Do you have to write everyday even though you’re miserable? Do you have to ignore new ideas until a contract is finished? Do you have to write according to the market?

Maybe the answer is yes. For example, yes I absolutely do have to prioritize my daughter’s health each time her asthma knocks out one of my work days. When I question that premise, the answer is obvious.

But do I have to prioritize the contracted book when I am absolutely burned out on it and not producing words and just scraping the bottom of a barrel and wow, if I work over here on XYZ for a few days, the words flow! And at least that means I’m writing words in something when otherwise I would be writing nowhere at all……..

Or do I have to write according to the market when I don’t actually care about the market and always seem to miss the target when I try and then whenever I let myself write whatever the hell I want, I sell better and get better reviews anyway……..

You see what I’m saying?

We all get so locked into what we think we SHOULD do, we never step outside those “rules” long enough to realize none of them are true—and almost all are made up by people who want to make money off of you.²

But you don’t actually have to listen to them.

And no, I can’t promise that ditching all the “shoulds” will lead to success. I do think it can make you happier, but it will take time to find what specifically works for you (maybe you do need SMART goals!).

I’m personally of the opinion that such self-discovery time and effort is never wasted. After all, I derive so much joy from my creative life now that I trust my own natural methods and Mr. Fluid dance moves.

I want all of you to experience the same.

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Strategy

For the record: I do strategize. I do work to deadlines. There are certain projects I have to work on because of contractual obligations or because my agent thinks they’re the best for my future.

I’ve talked about pulling a proposal together here—and one of the projects starred-out on my tracking list above is something my agent is urging me toward for “commercial reasons.”

But I try to never push those projects so hard that my brain gets scraped dry. I try to always recognize when the words and character emotions are fading, and to then jump rivers before I push myself into creative burnout and misery.

I won’t pretend I always succeed! Deadlines weigh on me in a way that definitely causes me to make fear-based choices instead of creative-health-based choices.

But I’m working at it.

And for the non-deadline-but-still-prioritized books, I think of them like a main waterway. I try to spend as much time in that primary river as I can, and then I’ll go explore tributaries whenever I need a break. But once the words run dry in the tributary, I return to the main waterway. If it still has no words or emotions ready to go…

Well, look! There’s a mangrove over there worth exploring.

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Resist Inertia

The last thing I’ll say before I finish this is that I have developed a new mantra of sorts: Resist Inertia.

I bring it up because part of my improved happiness and output is inextricably tied to my phone use—or lack thereof.

I have turned my phone into a “dumb phone” by removing all color, removing all apps save the most necessary, and installing an app literally called Dumb Phone.

So now the phone is such a disappointment to use. WHERE IS THE DOPAMINE I CRAVE!? It’s so frustrating, I genuinely get fed up and have no choice but to fling it down and find something more interesting to do.

Resist Inertia. Do not let this phone and its promise of dopamine suck you in. Do not let the siren call of email or Discord suck you in. Don’t just sit on the couch after you’ve finished your nightly TV episode and read the news.

Resist. Inertia.

I have even made a focus mode on my phone called Resist Inertia, so that those words show up whenever I lift the phone.

This doesn’t mean I never take breaks, of course! I’m not a machine working all day long. Your girl loves gaming (as you guys know), and I spend most afternoons playing Barbie or dressing up with my four year old.

But now that I don’t let my phone suck me in, I have opened up an embarrassing number of “extra hours” in the day.

All those little glances and scrolls and check-ins add up, friends. Trust me.

And I won’t lie: it feels really freaking good not to be staring at that little screen all the time. But….it also feels really freaking frustrating (see above about dopamine cravings).

Still, I have to get this ring to Mount Doom! I CANNOT SUCCUMB TO ITS TEMPTATION.

Instead, I must continue resisting inertia and get back to the stuff that feels like actual progress: writing, reading, playing, and getting ever closer to my Really Vague Destinations for 2025 and beyond.

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Okay, I've now resisted inertia long enough and it’s past my bedtime.³

Thanks for reading! If you want to really make my birthday awesome, please consider preordering Witchlight or The Executioners Three. 😘

Until next time!

💚 - Sooz

1. If you want access to ALL my old newsletters—a decade’s worth of content!—then head to my Writing Academy. Here, I’ll even sling you a 25% off discount good for the next two days. Use the code GOALS25.

2. Yes, this applies to social media. Stop giving these tech bros you free labor! What do you really get in return? Because without your content, they have nothing.

3. I believe I’ve discussed my tendency to go into hyper focus, and this was definitely one of those times. Literally I came into my office to find my lip balm, and then I saw this was open, and…Ruh-roh. Flash forward two hours, and now it’s almost midnight.