Jennifer Hillier

Goal post sticky

Aug 25, 2010 | Uncategorized

Sticky notes are one of the best inventions ever, right after cars, the internet, and movies in color.  If you ever have the opportunity to visit me in my writing space (which most of you won’t, so don’t get too excited) you will find multiple pads of sticky notes lying around in various sizes, shapes, and colors.

Stuck to the right side of my computer screen is always a Goal Post Sticky.  What is a Goal Post Sticky, you ask?  (Not out loud, of course, lest the people around you think you’re weird.)  Well, allow me to explain.  A Goal Post Sticky is a sticky that contains valuable information with regards to my writing goals for the week.

If I’m working on a first draft (which I am right now), the sticky looks like this:

The top number is the word count of my manuscript as of Monday morning.  The number directly below that is the word count at the end of Monday’s writing session.  From there, I note the word count at the end of every day.

My goal right now is to hit 2,000 words a day.  As you can see, this Goal Post Sticky from last week shows some pretty productive writing sessions.  I was able to hit my target every day. 

When I’m working on second or third drafts, the Goal Post Sticky will contain different information.  Though not too many numbers, usually.  I might writes notes like:

Start ch 12 re Knox interview cut add conv with Jerry del scene Monkey?

Which translates to:

This note won’t make to sense to you, but rest assured I will accomplish whatever it says by the end of today’s writing session.  And don’t worry, no monkeys were harmed in this story.

So, how do you keep track of your goals?  Writing or otherwise?

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