Get in tune with your writing goals

Nathan Bransford, TVWriter™’s favorite publishing know-it-all, has a few words for us about about setting and attaining our writing goals.


by Nathan Bransford

It’s starting to feel more like 2021 with every passing day, and I’m still in a goal-setting frame of mind as I think about what’s next for my creative life and business.

I blogged a few weeks back about the approach I use to set meaningful, holistic goals for my life, but I wanted to hone in on writing goals in particular.

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you are driven to write for reasons that may not be entirely apparent even to you. In fact, you might not have even thought much about it. You just do. And you may have entered the psychic slipstream of the things writers tend to want.

Of course you want to get published. Of course you want to be a massive bestseller. Of course you want to be mentioned in the same breath as Shakespeare and Toni Morrison.

But why? Have you really thought about it?

Get beneath the surface

When I’m working with authors who are struggling to get in tune with a character, I often ask them a version of this question: “If the character could wave a magic wand over their life, what would it look like, all the way down to the embroidery on the couch in their penthouse apartment…?”

Read it all at nathanbransford.com


Need help with your book? Nathan is available for manuscript edits, query critiques, and coaching!

For my best advice, check out Nathan’s guide to writing a novel (now available in audio) and his guide to publishing a book.

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