Thanks for coming to my talk for the Columbia River chapter of Sisters in Crime! You’ll find my slides, speaking notes, and the Chaos to Creativity handout below.
If you’re interested in going deeper, check out my 5-Day Pathfinding Challenge, a focused email course for folks who want to get their creativity back on track. (It’s pay-what-you-will.)
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Setting Gentle Goals for 2026 (Presentation Notes)
If you’ve ever set ambitious New Year writing goals only to burn out immediately, this session is for you.
Top-down goals (daily word counts, “finish the book no matter what,” etc.) can drain your motivation and set you up for discouragement. Most of us have been through that cycle enough times. This year, we’re setting goals that excite and motivate instead of demoralize and exhaust, and we’re pairing those goals with simple systems that work in real life.
By the end of the session, you’ll have a realistic (and adaptable) writing plan for 2026.
Opening: when life wrecks the plan
I went into 2025 thinking it was going to be the year I became a productive writer again. I’d finally crawled my way back from an eye injury in 2023 and felt ready to set ambitious goals.
And then my husband lost his job.
My freelance writing business became our stable source of income and health insurance. In tarot terms, 2025 was a Tower year: a year when big events shake your foundations and you get a choice. Rebuild stronger, or abandon the site and rebuild elsewhere.
Which is to say: I did not meet any of the writing goals I set at the beginning of the year. Instead, I pivoted wildly and fought the good fight.
As I head into 2026, I’m very aware that most outcomes are outside our control. The only thing we can control is how we approach our days and the systems we set up to keep ourselves on track, as much as possible.
Here’s the reframe I want to invite you into:
Burnout and “falling off the wagon” isn’t a character flaw. It’s a systems problem. And an expectations problem.
If you’ve ever reacted to falling short of your goals by forcing yourself to push harder, you already know how well that does not work. 🙂
Grab a notebook. We’ll do a little journaling along the way.
“Traveler, there is no path. The path is made by walking.”
Before we get into the details, I want to remind you of something you probably already know (but might forget, like I do):
There’s no one right way to be a writer.
The goals you set will be unique to you. The path you walk will be unique to you. That’s part of the joy of writing. We’re not here to copy someone else’s plan. We’re here to build one that fits your actual life.
Shift the goal: from outcome to identity + intention
Most of us start with an outcome goal, no matter what the area of life is.
- Health: lose 10 pounds, run a 10K
- Writing: finish the book, write a short story a month
That’s not terrible, especially if you take that goal and work backward into repeatable actions and systems that support it instead of expecting it to happen in a vacuum.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t set a goal like “finish the book.” I’m asking you to come at it from a different angle than pure outcome.
Instead of:
- What do I want to accomplish this year?
- Or worse: What should I accomplish this year?
Let’s focus on why the goal matters to you, personally.
Yes, some writers have real deadlines with publishers or clients. Self-imposed deadlines can be every bit as important. But there are also those weird creeping “obligations” that don’t actually belong in your calendar or mental space:
- My friend is doing a short story submission challenge, so I should too.
- I need to publish X books this year or my audience will shrivel up.
- This has to be the year I find an agent.
Journaling prompt (2 minutes):
- What would feel meaningful by December?
- What kind of writer do I want to be this year?
- What do I want writing to add to my life?
“No plan survives contact with the enemy.”
We all know this is true.
Next, we’re going to hone in on what you want to accomplish and frame it in a way that can survive the chaos of daily life.
Choose a goal that can survive a busy life
Starting with identity and intention helps you set goals that make writing feel joyful.
And let’s be real: joyful goals that make us feel good are far more motivating than goals that feel like obligations and make us feel terrible.
Also: for most of us, the money in writing is not amazing enough for it to make you feel terrible. Writing a novel isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but you should be having fun most of the time. If you’re not, it’s worth looking at expectations and finding where they’re crushing your joy.
Common writer goals (and why they backfire)
- Write every day (not clearly defined)
- Hit a specific daily word count (inflexible; you always feel behind)
- Project goal (draft/revise/submit by a deadline; can feel overwhelming)
Gentle writer goals (three options that actually work)
1) Practice goals (minutes per day / sessions per week)
I like minutes or sessions rather than word count because it accounts for editing, outlining, or research.
Define what counts as writing for you. If writing includes taking research notes, that’s awesome. But if you tend to fall down Wikipedia rabbit holes, maybe declare that off-limits. Only you know if you’re writing or procrastinating.
2) Process goals (weekly/monthly word count, or chapters/scenes/days drafted)
I love process goals. I often use a combination of a monthly word count plus chapters/scenes I want to complete.
This gives you flexibility. Some weeks are packed. Other weeks have open space you can take advantage of. One week, your goal might be one chapter. Another week, you might decide you can swing 10,000–15,000 words.
The key is flexibility.
3) Project breakdown goals (work backward from a deadline with milestones)
If you do have a deadline, work backward and set key milestones.
How fast do you write? How many chapters do you expect? How much time do you need for revisions?
I’ve seen this instantly reduce stress. A client of mine, Erin, had four months to write her book and was completely overwhelmed until we sat down, mapped interviews and chapter deadlines, and created a schedule. I could literally see her brighten as she realized it was possible.
Journaling prompt (2–3 minutes):
Write down your goals for 2026. Pick the goal type (practice, process, project breakdown) that fits your life best.
Build the plan
Goals don’t happen in a vacuum. They need support.
The key here is to create a plan that flexes when your schedule flexes, instead of breaking down.
Start with your calendar and your real life
A calendar beats wishful thinking.
When you’re trying to figure out how to make time, you have to put it somewhere concrete:
- a bullet journal grid
- a physical planner (with limited space)
- a daily Post-It note or 3×5 card
- time tracking (especially if overwhelm keeps surprising you)
Then: create weekly writing appointments based on your actual schedule.
Deploy the plan: simple rituals
Weekly planning ritual + daily next-step list (my Chaos to Creativity system)
- Capture incoming chaos
- Set priorities
- Plan the schedule
Daily planning ritual
Take a few minutes at the end of the day to revisit your plan and assign next steps for tomorrow. The goal is to minimize decisions first thing in the morning so you can get right into the work.
Also: treat planning like gathering data, not judging your performance.
- What’s working?
- Where did you underestimate time?
- Where are your goals too ambitious?
- What patterns show up when things “go wrong”?
Quick prompt (2 minutes):
Jot down your preliminary plan for when you’ll schedule writing dates, and what you’ll do to protect them.
You need to triage the unimportant
It’s hard to shut things out of our life. It’s like putting a giant boulder in a river: it constricts the flow.
But do you know what that boulder does—especially when you add more boulders and constrict the flow even more? It makes the water incredibly powerful.
If you want to make real progress on important projects, you have to be in the practice of triaging what isn’t important.
Tools for triage
The 5-Project Rule (from Charlie Gilkey)
You only have time for five active projects at any given time. Not just work projects. Caretaking is a project. Being sick is a project. Preparing for a holiday is a project.
The Eisenhower Grid
A quick 2×2 for evaluating tasks:
- Important + urgent: do it now
- Important + not urgent: schedule it
- Urgent + not important: delegate or question it
- Not urgent + not important: remove it
The “No List”
A running list of automatic no’s so you don’t have to make the same decision repeatedly.
Start with joy (and your intentions)
Does it bring you joy? Does it make you feel good? Or does it drain you and make you feel farther from what you want? Do less of what drains you. Do more of what brings you alive.
Close: your 2026 Writing Pact
Three commitments for the year:
- I will schedule and protect my writing time.
- I will be water: adjusting without quitting, becoming more powerful the more focused I flow.
- I will measure consistency, not perfection.
You don’t need a perfect year. You need a year you can keep showing up for.