Have You Reached Your Ghostwriting Goals?

We are almost nearing the end of 2008 and what better time than to assess all the goals and promises you made at the start of the year.  Have you fulfilled yours?  What goals did you make for your writing career at the start of the year?

For me there were a number of goals that I listed at the start of January.  I want to increase my earnings, I wanted to spend more time with my children, and like everyone else I wanted to work less.  How did I do?

Well if I’m completely honest, not too great.  First of all the start of the year was pretty bad for me.  My partner and soon to be husband was taken ill and diagnosed with Bergers Disease (IgA Neuropathy) a kidney disorder that can lead to kidney failure.  There is no cure either so that really knocked us all for six.  Because of this we had six months of steroid treatment and two kidney biopsy’s to endure and this in turn meant a writing break for me.  It was impossible to focus on my writing and I took what I call a well earned break.

I returned to ghostwriting and freelancing in May/June of this year and I must admit, I was really glad to do so.  If you are a writer then you know that even when you’re not writing you are thinking of stories, articles, book ideas, it never leaves and it’s not something that you can turn off.

So my yearly goals really turned into a six month goal plan and was basically to spend more time with my family and to re-discover the passion I had for my writing.

I can admit now that 2007 was a great year for me but admittedly I work too much and my family life was beginning to suffer.  I spent all the hours I could writing and earning as much as I could but at the end of it all what happened was something unexpected.  I actually lost my writing passion.  I was so fed up of writing endless keyword articles, creating e-books that others were selling and making thousands with, and the thought of writing anything just didn’t appeal to me.

This feeling stayed with me for a very long time and it became that same feeling that you get when you work in a 9 to 5 job that you hate.  I was finding any excuse not to write but l needed the money and so I had to.

I am delighted to report that in October of this year that all changed and I rediscovered my passion for writing.  It came in the form of an editing job.  I received an e-mail one day from someone looking to have their script edited.  I accepted and have never looked back.  I enjoyed this job so much even just reading the script put a smile on my face.  It was a story, I could see the characters, feel the emotions, and I remembered exactly why I loved to write.

My second goal that I set was to spend more time with my family and still earn enough monthly income to pay the bills.  Did I achieve it?  Yes but not without some real self discipline.  I have set my work hours now and I stick to them, unless I have a very tight deadline to meet.  I work when my children are in school and daycare and then if I have to an hour in the evening when they have gone to bed.  Being strict with myself has made a huge difference to my life and now we enjoy quality family time instead of me sneaking upstairs to the office every chance I get.

This year has been a learning curve for me and it has been worth it.

As for 2009, do I have a lot of plans?

Not too many, I figure if I keep my list small then it’s easier to achieve.

What about you?

How did you do with your 2008 writing goals?

Did you succeed?

Share your story I’d love to hear it.

Until next time,

Keep writing.

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