With the new year upon us, it’s time to set up some writing goals that I am putting maximum effort into accomplishing. The challenge for me is to break some bad habits and get things rollin’ like the days of yore. It’ll be difficult, but I am confident I can make some waves this time around.
Perhaps one of the most difficult aspects is working around college. Half of my day on Tuesdays and Thursdays is spent working toward my bachelor’s degree. That’s not including the two-hour blocks I schedule for studying every day.
It’s all for the greater good, though.
What Writing Goals Am I Striving For in 2026?
I’m sure I’ll have a few smaller goals and challenges that will come up throughout the year. However, these are the three major writing goals I’ll be working on throughout 2026 as a whole.
By accomplishing all three, I should make some great headway in being productive while writing books and blog posts. If I even get halfway through these three, I’ll be better off in 2026 than I was in 2025.
So, what writing goals am I setting in stone for the year?
30,000 Minutes of “Novel” Time
Initially, I was going to write 800,000 words throughout the entire year, specifically for books and stories. However, I’ve come to realize that some days are going to be spent editing, which will easily cut down how many words I can type.
So, I’ve decided to focus on 30,000 minutes throughout the entire year spent on writing books, stories, and entering various writing contests. Essentially, anything that has to do with publishing creative works will be recorded towards “Novel” time.
I know that 30,000 minutes sounds like a large number. However, that breaks down to only 82.2 minutes per day; just under an hour and a half. So, if I maintain regular writing sprints and keep working on my stories every day, it should be an easy goal to beat.
To put this into perspective, I averaged 36.22 minutes per day in 2023, which was my most productive “Novel” year to date. My secondary goal is to simply beat that number.
What does the 30,000 minutes include? It’s the time I spend:
- Writing books, stories, or entering creative writing contests.
- Editing the creative works I write.
- Working on cover art for the books.
- Specifically marketing my stories (except for in-person live events and social media)
The reason why I am putting so much effort into writing books and stories is that I foremost want to be an author. I want to take it beyond a hobby and make something more of what I create. And putting in the time to do so only gets me that much closer to my dream.
Writing One Million Words!
Since 2019, I’ve been trying to hit one million words written for the year. As I’ve included a lot of projects nowadays that don’t involve writing, it’s getting more difficult. However, I think 2026 might be the year I accomplish that goal.
During my prime while writing for content mills, I was averaging around two million words per year. This was scattered between the clients for content mills and the blog posts I was writing for myself. Nowadays, I also work on school tasks, videos, editing content, and being a home health care provider.
Lately, it’s mostly the school work that takes away the biggest chunk of writing time. But hey, I’d rather have my bachelor’s degree than hit some arbitrary number of productivity.
Anyway, a million words is only 2,740 words per day. I can usually write that before lunch on most days. That is, as long as I don’t get sucked into doomscrolling on social media. Not to mention the sheer volume of chaos I deal with on a weekly basis.
Still, when that chaos strikes, I can always work extra time throughout the entire week, which I haven’t really been focusing on as of late.
So, here we go…I am going to set up enough writing projects throughout the week to write 19,179 words, minimum. That way, I don’t have to stress about meeting a daily quota if I view it from the perspective of the entire week.
What am I going to count on in this endeavor?
- Books and stories
- Blog posts
- Video scripts
- College essays
- Client projects
Keep in mind that all of this is without generative AI.
7 Book Signing Events
In 2025, I attended 4 book signing events. These were the breweries and Read Between the Stars. In 2026, I want to attend at least 7 throughout the year.
If you noticed, I didn’t mention when I was part of a panel. I’ll consider those differently, as the primary focus is whatever topic I am covering at the panel.
I wish that I had the time to do more, but I have a lot on my plate. I don’t want to try to push more than I am capable of handling. I’m going to start a bit slow and then build momentum each year. So, if I handle 7 events in 2026, I might increase it to 10 for 2027.
Remember, the point of a goal is not to set yourself up for failure because you physically cannot put in the necessary effort.
Luckily, most of the events I’ve attended were during the weekend. I usually have more time available on Saturdays and Sundays. However, this also means that I have to market the event on social media, blog posts, and anything else that can bring attention to the signing. All of that takes time.
It All Comes Down to Time Management
One thing that impacts all goals, regardless of what you set, is time management. If you don’t put adequate time into any project, you’ll find it that much more difficult to succeed. And that’s one of my underlying goals for 2026.
As I record everything I do in a spreadsheet (because I’m a dork), I know where I burn time. I can see how many hours I put in during any given day, week, month, and year. So, I know when I have to put in more effort to meet a certain criterion for the number of hours I spend “working.”
Initially, I was using the spreadsheet to help gauge the amount of time specific tasks took me throughout the day. Doing so gave me a better idea about how much to charge various clients. Nowadays, I use it as a way to keep myself motivated.
I would love to create a simple program to help track all of my projects, but that would require investing more time than I don’t necessarily have. Besides, the spreadsheet works well enough for what I want to track.
Anyway, the most important goal I have for 2026 is to utilize my time better. I’ve already made a massive impact by not getting sucked into doomscrolling on social media. I miss my author friends on Threads, but I just don’t think it’s really worth my time throughout the day.
When focusing more on utilizing time better, everything else falls into place. For example, making sure I don’t get sidetracked by doomscrolling or getting sucked into the YouTube rabbit holes gives me more time to put into the books, blogs, and YouTube channels.
Besides, I haven’t had the best of luck with gaining visitors or making book sales by using social media. They are a time suck that takes away from the very thing that makes me happy.
Writing.
Goals Mean Little Without Effort
Creating writing goals for yourself also means that you work to accomplish them. The best way to do that is by having a plan of action in place to follow. That’s why I spend the better part of November and December trying new tactics to see if I can come up with a good plan.
Is it perfect for 2026? I don’t know, to be honest. The scheduling looks great in Asana, as I assign blocks of time for specific purposes. But that will mean nothing if I don’t put in the effort to see them through to the end.
There’s no doubt that the last few years have been quite rough on me. Yet, I’m feeling quite confident that 2026 is going to be much different. Mostly because of how I feel about myself.
I’ve spent a little bit of time working on some things lately, and folks are pointing out the difference.
So, let’s put in maximum effort this time around and prove to ourselves that we can do it. All that matters is that you take the steps to be a better person today than you were yesterday, regardless of the accomplishment.
What do you have planned for 2026?
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