Screenwriting : Setting goals by Phillip E. Hardy, Prolifique

Setting goals definitely helps me. You may find during the year that you need to change them but setting goals this time last year helped me work out what I want and what I want to focus on and of course getting it all done!

Setting goals have always helped me finish my work on time, it has always helped to be motivated and has pushed me to write better.

Yup. Power perceived is power achieved.

https://youtu.be/1L-4-XQYxrs

Setting specific and attainable goals has been difficult in the past because I've had so many irons in the fire at any time. My New Year's resolution is to cut way back on the number of projects. (I'm dropping my cable TV show for one.) I'll just go back to writing and producing. No more wasting time trying to help the young know-it-all crowd - a major time waster. Pointless, too.

Like Doug, I tend to have too many irons in the fire. I'm not much for setting a specific goal because I tend to concentrate on what's exciting me at the time, which has both positive and negative results. I do find though that when I'm really into a subject I tend to do better work from a quality perspective so I guess it's about finding what works for you and improving it.

This coming year I am going to try to be a bit more focused, but it'll only work if I am really into the project so hopefully I can keep the balance of inspiration and hard work.

Absolutely. Resolutions, goal lists and vision boards. I do all of it.

When I have a clear vision of where I'm going; that's when I crash hardest!

Hmm good question. Rigid goals cripple me personally, but flexible goals keep the creative window open!

I think anyone who wants to succeed in the field of screenwriting has to be goal oriented or at least develop the ability to be task and deadline oriented (and goal oriented fits into that pretty seamlessly). If someone is going to "Hire" you for a project, you had better believe they are going to have expectations and so your "goals" may be given you.

As an added thought, it's not only having goals that are important but having task management skills as well. Having goals is meaningless if you don't have task management abilities tied into them. In my world that rears it's ugly head in the form of having goals to have this project written, this rewrite done, etc. by a certain date and then having other "tasks" eat up all my time that I hoped to use for the pursuit of that goal.

Goals are great and needed but need to have good real life juggling skills to accompany them. I've learned my juggling skills have a lot to be desired still. But I'm working on it.

Chad:

Good point. I have good management skills and can definitely focus on prioritization and task management. However, I don't really have a list of set goals that I draft at the start of the new year. However, I'm always looking for opportunities and then acting upon them. But mainly shifting on the fly.

Sometimes rigid goal dates can create more frustration than what is normally experienced when creating. Goals are good, rigid due dates can stifle creativity. Then again, I would imagine that a write for hire job with a due date could be inspirational - like blood out of your eyeballs.

I don't have any goals.

Oddly enough, I've never set goals for my own screenplays. What motivates me the most is when one of the people I collaborate with calls me up with an idea or when I'm hired and I have a deadline. If I have ideas of my own I work on them in my spare time. I don't know why it's so hard to motivate myself with my own projects but I am driven to write for other people! No it's not just the money, either! DEAD WAKE was a suggestion by someone else and I ran with it, knowing it would end up as a spec script (and btw, SHAMELESS PLUG! thanks to it being a finalist at a competition, Dead Wake has been published and is availbale at Amazon as a paperback or Kindle edition! https://www.amazon.com/dp/1973588285?ref_=pe_870760_150889320 )

When it comes to screenwriting I no longer have any goals. However when I started out I always set goals. My first was to finish my first screenplay. That was the one I am most proud of because I really didn't think I could do it. My next goal was keep writing screenplays until I either sold a screenplay or got an agent. I managed to reach those and now my new goal is get some of my projects in development funded. The good thing about this business if you climb one mountain there are always other mountains you can find to climb. At least that is my philosophy.

I have to really, really focus on a specific target. For example, my goal might be to write a feature. If I focus on that, I feel overwhelmed, and I procrastinate. But if I focus on the logline, and only the logline, I'll probably write it. Or if I focus on characters and cast design and only on that, I'll be okay. If I focus on structure, and only on structure, I'll probably accomplish something. And so on... This isn't the most organic approach, and it's very mechanical at times, but it's the only approach that seems to work for me.

I can relate to your early goal Dan. At one point, it seemed finishing that first script was like reaching the acme of Mt. Everest. I never thought it would turn out to be anything good at all. But it is.

Funny thing though...once it was done, every keystroke I made after that on the next project had a whole new and enhanced value in my eyes. I knew I was writing something of value. That alone was a huge hurdle for my psyche.

Yes. Most definitely. I always set writing goals. Keeps me focused. Otherwise "when I get the time" takes over and months later I've accomplished nothing.

Like Jacob, I get overwhelmed by tackling an entire project. I break it down into quarterly, weekly, & daily chunks of work.

If I find myself avoiding a certain step, I break it down further until I've overcome my own resistance. Taking bites I can manage helps me succeed every day.

Taking a small step forward propels me further into the project and I usually keep on going after that first step. It's helpful to lay out my steps, in a general way, ahead of time so that when I finish one item I can continue to the next step without having to stop and figure out what it is.

Good luck everyone! I always tell myself there's a big market out there--for finished work.

I prefer to concentrate on accomplishments over goals. Yes, I set goals and have them in place for 2018. I just find accomplishments drive me this time of year. I did set new goals at Thanksgiving. Met all but one and the one I missed was out of my hands. Writing wise I had a great year. Wrote 3 features that have a future! Placed in an International screenplay contest. To each their own. Have a great 2018 Uncle Phil!