Goals should be SMART, according to the planning experts. That stands for Specific, Manageable, Action-oriented, Reasonable, and Time-bound. Writing plans can be as elaborate as an outline that includes every chapter of every scene, or as simple as "I will spend two hours in the morning typing whatever comes out." Either works, because in their own ways, they're Specific, Manageable, Action-Oriented, Reasonable, and Time-Based.
Big Audacious Goals have those parameters as well, but also stretch our definition of Reasonable. NaNoWriMo, for example, sets a Big Audacious Goal of 50,000 words in a month. That's reasonable at 1,667 words a day, or approximately 2-3 hours a day, but it's more than a new participant has likely ever written in a day, which makes it a BAG.
My Big Audacious Goal for this weekend will be to write 4000-word days today and tomorrow. The amount is very specific, and I'll know when I reach it. It's manageable on a weekend for someone like me who hasn't gotten anything else planned and whose husband will be putting on a big pot of 13-bean-soup on the stove. The goal is action-oriented -- write and write and write. Although that's a lot of words, I have written 3000 words/day for the last three despite having to go to work, so it's a reasonable stretch goal. And it's time-based -- 4000 words today, 4000 words tomorrow.
I might not make it. It won't be the end of the world if I do. But I'm motivated by the way this 30-year-old idea is turning out, and an 8000-word weekend will get me 1/3 of the way toward the goal in 5 days!
Wish me luck!
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