Comments on: Writing Goals: Going from "Aaagh!" to "A-ha!"

By: Is Your Subconscious Messing with Your Writing Identity?

Is Your Subconscious Messing with Your Writing Identity? — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 08:18:48 +0000

[…] a recent post, I mentioned a moment that shifted how I see goals. I had a productivity instructor say, “When […]

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 20:07:31 +0000

In reply to Janice Hardy. The coloring thing really helps me and my busy brain stay on point. This is the first year I've done a word for the month, and it surprised me how much it helped to see it, all pretty and NEXT TO the word for the year. I also enjoy the mystery of "what will next month's word be?" Clutter creeps. We moved from a small California ranch-style house in 2024 to a larger house on the East Coast and two things surprised me: 1. How much easier it is to keep the house clean when we're not on top of each other all the time. Different rooms have different purposes, and nothing goes in that isn't for that purpose. 2. How much more productive I am now that I have spaces that are all mine. I gave up my office when my daughter was born and did my work in whatever corner was available: the dining room, the kitchen table, the coffee table. But that meant I never got to organize a single space to the way I needed it to work. It's been super eye-opening here, how absolutely bad that was for my creative self. I can't wait to hear how 2026 (the Year of Declutter) goes!

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 20:00:18 +0000

In reply to denise. You are always welcome, Denise!

By: Janice Hardy

Janice Hardy — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 11:40:19 +0000

Such great stuff! And I love the coloring idea :) My word (and goal) for 2026 is "declutter." My home, my life, my career--it's all about streamlining and simplifying. I know it'll take all year, and I found a few YouTubers who really resonated with me (The Practical Mom and Clutterbug). One of their big things is "Take 15 minutes and do one thing." So now, as I wait for my coffee I declutter a drawer, or tidy up the kitchen counters. That's translating to my writing as well, and I'll let go of things I REALLY needed to put on the back burner for now. I have five of six nonfiction writing projects in various stages of completion, but I kept getting distracted by life and other things, so they got set aside and then forgotten. So this year I'm going to finish one! Hopefully more than one, as a lot of them are small projects. Here's to everyone meeting their goal this year!

By: denise

denise — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 04:58:03 +0000

This was a very enlightening post. Thanks.

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 17:59:43 +0000

In reply to Laura Drake. You are my hero, Laura. Seriously. I love your tenacity...especially through the Pit if Despair (aka Act II). :-)

By: Laura Drake

Laura Drake — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 17:41:31 +0000

Great info here, Jenny. I struggled with deadlines. Don’t get me wrong, I always made them, but the closer they get, the more my anxiety amps. So I do another piece of you advice above. Break it into small chunks. I figured how many words my book would be, then counted the weeks until my deadline. Then I subtracted 2-3 weeks (for illness, days off, Holidays, etc). Figured out how many days that was, then divided the word count by the number of days.

Voila! I had a daily word count I stuck to, no matter how many hours it took (on a good day, 2 hrs, on a bad day, 8). I got the dopamine of meeting a goal every day, and knew I didn’t have to freak about the deadline. Win-win!

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 17:12:35 +0000

In reply to Barb DeLong. Thanks Barb! And I'm so glad you kept going. That's the most important part. And congrats on Book 3!!! P.S. I'm a scene writer toooo. It's the absolute only way I can get through book length fiction.

By: Barb DeLong

Barb DeLong — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 03:00:33 +0000

Well, this spoke to me on several levels, especially about breaking your word to yourself. I was at a low point in my writing mind in the summer of 2019. I was getting nowhere with a story. After writing for over 25 years, I wanted to quit. But I remembered the promise I made to myself--finish a book and find a traditional publisher. Instead of quitting, I ditched the book and wrote something brand new that fired me up. I now have a publisher for my fantasy romance series. I'm editing book 3! What helps me with writing such complex stories is to write in scenes, one at a time. Small bites. Otherwise, it's all too overwhelming. Great blog, Jenny!

By: Jenny Hansen

Jenny Hansen — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 01:43:43 +0000

In reply to Debbie Decker. Debbie!! Hi, lovely friend. I don't know about brilliant, but I definitely have a desire to outwit my ADHD brain. I didn't even know I had it until I was in my mid-forties, so it's been a journey! Your writing is beautiful, so I'm happy your are back in the game. :-)