Why We Should Celebrate Our Writing Goals

This week, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is asking how we celebrate a writing goal or completing a book. Click here to join the fun!

As I was thinking this over, I realized I don’t usually celebrate finishing a project. So often, it’s “done-and-on-to-the-next.” I think this is partly because of my schedule–book coaching projects can overlap to where I finish helping one author while I’m still working with another, so there never is a “finish line.” And the same thing happens in my personal writing, as one novel sets up the next for my series, most of which I’ve been over and over again. And even when I “finish,” I know I’m not really done, as the final edits are still out there, the last passes when I am doing copyediting instead structuring the story.

But as I thought it over, I realized I probably should make this more of a priority. After all, I’ve finished something…shouldn’t there be a little more celebration than just hitting “save”?

Here are 3 reasons why goals are worth celebrating:

• There’s enough discouragement as a writer already. We get the plot holes, the grammar errors, and the blank pages. Why not celebrate when, at last, a milestone is completed?
• We need to see the positive. As authors, we’re bombarded with more negative feedback than most. There are the bad reviews, of course, but there’s also the times when we compare ourselves to others and wonder why it takes so long for us to write books, to get them published, or to find our fans (they must be out there, right?). To counterbalance that, we need to celebrate when we get things right–when we nailed our dialogue, perfected our description, or just got the first rough draft “in the can.”
• It’s a long and lonely journey. When we write, we usually have to work alone, making our way through all the difficulties without a loyal sidekick or a wise mentor. Hopefully, somewhere along the journey we can find people willing to take these roles in our lives, but even so, writing isn’t fast or easy. Celebrations can help make the “big events” feel more special.

And I think this is part of what the IWSG is about: helping writers not be quite so alone as they make their way, year in, year out, towards their writing goals.

Happy Writing!

Copyright 2018 Andrea Lundgren