The WMF Archives: Writing Resolutions for a New Decade

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Writing Resolutions for a New Decade

10:51 AM

By Carol Tice

I've always been a fan of making New Year's resolutions. They're goals really -- what do I want to achieve in the coming year?

I'm an especially big fan of setting goals in my writing business. It's so important to do. Otherwise, I know I'll likely just look up a year from now and realize I've ground along with the same pay level, the same types of clients, without advancing my own agenda of where I'd like to go in my writing career.

What is the next level of your career? Each year, every writer should add up their expenses and income and figure out what they netted. Drill down further -- which clients paid the best hourly or per-word rates? Which paid the worst? Which were the biggest pains to work with? Possibly most importantly, what types of marketing did you do, and how effective were they?

Looking at the data may point the way to some goals. Once you've analyzed, you can ask: What moves would bring me a better hourly rate? More free time? More interesting projects? Less annoying clients? More interesting writing assignments?

Usually, I identify one loser client each year (at least!) and set a goal of either hiking their rates, or finding a better client and being too busy to work for them. Because in general, that's how you move up in writing...you gradually find better accounts and drop less desirable ones, until you look up one day and find you have a real A-list of solid-gold, great-paying clients.

For me, this year's big goal was to write e-books. While I haven't finished any, I have one about 75% done that I'm hoping to wrap in January. I know if I hadn't set that goal, I'd be nowhere with that project. I'm excited and can't wait to tackle my '10 goal of learning how to publish and sell my ebooks.

I think the problem with goal-setting is a lot of writers get discouraged when they don't meet their goals. But don't think that way!

As my ebook experience shows, goals are something to aim for -- a statement of direction, a declaration that we want to go beyond what we've done the year before. Your career should build and get better and more lucrative each year.

I'm not disappointed that I didn't meet my goal. I'm thrilled that having the goal pushed me in the right direction. I somehow made time (don't ask how!) amongst all my immediately-paying assignments to write the better part of a passion project that could create fantastic passive income for me in the future, and lead me to better-paying assignments writing ebooks for others. Big win!

In mentoring writers, I've found many are scared to dream big. If they're averaging $20 an hour now, when I say they should aim for $50, they can't even imagine it. If that's you, break your goal down -- this year aim for $30 an hour, with a plan for $50 the next year.

If you're earning at the low end of the scale, I have a goal for you to consider. I have a petition I'm asking writers to sign where they pledge not to work for content mills or take any assignments that pay less than $50. If you can't sign that right now because you have too many low-paying clients or are doing part of your writing for sites that pay $15 an article or so...I'd like to challenge you to make a resolution that a year from now, you'd be able to sign on, because you've set a goal of raising your rates and found new, better-paying clients. And now $50 is your lowest rate.

You can do it! The economy is turning, entry-level rates are rising, and there are opportunities galore. Personally, my floor is $100 an assignment, and I usually make $75-$100 an hour on those. Widen your horizons and know that good pay is possible, even in this economy.

What's your writing goal for 2010? Leave a comment and let us know.

Photo source: Lowjumpingfrog

Labels: Carol Tice, content mills, freelance writing news and ideas, goal setting, marketing ideas, New Year's resolutions, pay rates, the writing life, writing goals

4 comments:

Alyssa Ast said...: I think setting goals is a must or you will go no where. I have set my goals for 2010 already and I am aiming high. I know I can easily accomplish the goals I have set with a little hard work and determination. As today is the last day of 2009, I will be sitting downa and refining my 2010 goals and setting a path to achieve them. Great post Carol!; December 31, 2009 11:22 AM
Angela Atkinson said...: Love this post, Carol!! Really helpful information and super inspirational. I'm definitely raising the bar this year too. Thanks for the encouragement! 2010 is going to be an amazing year!; December 31, 2009 1:13 PM
Todd R. Vick said...: Nice post, Carol. So many of my peers are nay-saying resolutions saying they are a waste of time because no one (meaning themselves) ever keeps them. I rather see resolutions as a way of growing beyond the previous year and embracing greater resolve to achieve more. Thank you for your thoughts!; December 31, 2009 1:36 PM
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