 It’s the beginning of a new year and the perfect time for a fresh start. It’s the best time of the year to reflect on the accomplishments you have achieved in the past year and the areas you might need to improve in the new year as a writer. The best way to do that is to make an annual review to reflect on the writing goals you have achieved in the past year and set your writing goals and projects for this year. Write down the tasks Prepare your materials Reflect on the past year Content creation Finances Marketing Professional development Time Plan your goals for this year Vision Declutter your brain Time Goals Projects Quarterly focus Monthly focus Weekly focus Quarterly review Write down the tasks My first step in making an annual review is to plan the tasks I need to complete to review the accomplishments I have achieved in my freelance editing business in the past year and set my business goals for this year. At the beginning of each December, I schedule some time to write down the tasks I need to complete in my digital to-do list. This year, I have written down 15 tasks. Some of them are big tasks that might take multiple days to complete, and others are small tasks that can be combined and take only a few hours. The tasks in my to-do list are not final. They can and probably will be adjusted when I start making my annual review to better reflect the actual process I need to take. The written tasks, though, give me a sense of direction and an estimate of how many hours it will take me to complete the annual review. Since I followed a similar process last year, I can estimate that my annual review will take about 30 hours this year, but I always leave room for more time. I make the annual review during the Christmas holidays every year. Over to you: What tasks do you need to complete to make an annual review of your writing goals? Write them down. How much time do you think it will take you to complete the annual review? Write down a rough estimate and schedule the time in your calendar. Prepare your materials The next step I take is to prepare the materials I will need. Everything I need is already organised and gathered in my computer and office desk, so I don’t need to buy anything or make any other extra preparations. I use the following materials:
Over to you: What tools and software do you use to make an annual review of your writing goals? Write down a list of materials and prepare them in advance. Reflect on the past year I start making my annual review by reflecting on the goals and the projects of the year that passed. I go back to the goals I set for my freelance editing business at the beginning of the year to see which of them I achieved, which ones I didn’t achieve and how and why my focus changed throughout the year. I ask myself the following questions:
I spend some time brainstorming and writing down the answers to these questions in my notebook as I go through my goals and projects. (The whole process is valuable to me as the answers to these questions will help me set my editing business goals for the next year.) When I am done, I ask myself more questions about specific areas of my freelance editing business. I write down the answers to these questions in my notebook. I ask myself questions about the following areas of my editing business: Content creation
I do research and update my list of possible topics that writers will be interested in to write about this year (blog articles, social media posts). Finances
I review and adjust my recurring expenses and plan my budget for next year. I am fairly organised and keep track of my financial data in Excel spreadsheets throughout the year, so this is a straightforward process for me. Marketing
Professional development
I update the list of craft books, webinars and courses I would like to take. Time
I have summarised monthly data of the hours I spend on each project on my planner, so at the end of each year, I sum up this data to draw conclusions and make adjustments/changes for this year. Over to you: Write down specific areas of your writing life that you want to reflect on and set writing goals for this year, such as writing projects, finances, marketing and professional development. Write down the answers to the questions above to effectively reflect on your writing life for the past year (you may need to adjust the questions to suit your writing needs). Plan your goals for this year Vision I start making plans for this year by asking myself general questions about my editing business and the goals I would like to achieve this year.
Over to you: What does success look like to you for this year, and what writing goal are you most excited to achieve? Write down specific steps you need to take. Declutter your brain The next step I take to set my editing business goals for this year is to write down all my business goals in one long list. I write down everything that comes to mind with no particular order. Business goals can be about the following areas:
After I make sure I write down everything that comes to mind, I prioritise the goals in my list using coloured pens. I assign a number to a colour, and I go through my goals ranking them from top priority to it’s not so important and can be done later. For example, 1=blue, top priority 2=purple, long-term priority 3=green, unimportant You can choose whatever colour combinations you like or have available at the moment and create a colour-code system that makes sense to you. Over to you: Write down a list of all the writing goals you want to achieve this year and prioritise them. Time The next step I take when setting my goals for this year is to figure out how much time I have available. I like to take a typical week and see how much available time I have. Once I take out any recurring tasks, appointments or obligations, I write down the available hours I have left in a typical week for my editing business. I don’t assign any specific goals or projects yet. In this step, I just estimate how many hours I have in a typical week so that I can realistically plan my goals (in a later step). Over to you: Estimate how much available time you have in a typical week for your writing goals. Goals The next step I take is to decide the goals for my editing business for this year. I look at the list of goals I wrote in a previous step, and I choose 3-5 long-term goals to focus on this year. Under each goal, I write down the projects I need to take to achieve them and an estimate of how many hours it will take me to complete them. Over to you: Decide and write down 3 goals (and the projects you need to achieve each goal). For example, a writing goal includes writing a romance novel. Possible projects include:
Projects The final step I take is to write down the tasks I need to take to complete each project for my editing business. I write down the tasks I need to take under each project, and I estimate how many hours it will take me to complete each task. Usually, I do this process in my digital-to-doist app. It is easier, faster and more convenient for me to write, move, delete and add tasks as needed in a specific project and assign them to specific dates or organise them into specific sections. Over to you: Write down the tasks you need to complete for each project and estimate how many hours they will take. Example project: Plan my romance story Possible tasks can include:
Quarterly focus When I finish my annual review and set my editing goals and projects for this year, I focus on the editing goals I want to complete in the first quarter of the year. I estimate the available time that I have for the quarter (based on the typical week estimates I did in a previous step) and choose the most important or urgent goals at the time. Over to you: Estimate how much available time you have in a quarter and choose the most important goals that fit your schedule. Monthly focus The next step I take is to set up the first month of the year (January) in my Erin Condren Weekly Life Planner (dashboard layout). On the calendar page, I write down any appointments, tasks or deadlines that need to happen or be completed by a certain date. On the next 2 pages, I write down the monthly goals, projects and tasks. Also, I create a table that includes the projects of the month and the estimated time it will take me to complete them. I leave a blank space to write down the actual hours I will spend on each project at the end of the month. Over to you: Write down the writing goals, projects and tasks for the first month of the year. Weekly focus The next step I take is to set up the first week of January in my Erin Condren planner. On the left page of the planner, I write down any appointments or obligations that need to happen on a specific day of the week. On the right page, I write down the weekly projects and tasks. In the notes section, I create a table and write down the weekly projects and the amount of time they will take. I write down every day how much time I devote to each project, and I sum up the total hours at the end of the week. Over to you: Write down your weekly projects and tasks. Quarterly review Every quarter, I schedule some time for a quarterly review in my calendar. Quarterly reviews help me check the progress I made on my long-term editing goals and effectively set goals for the next quarter. I follow a similar procedure for my quarterly review. If possible, I make my quarterly review a few days before the next quarter begins. Over to you: Schedule time every quarter to check the progress you’ve made on your writing goals. Conclusion That’s it. That’s how I make my annual review and set my editing goals for my freelance editing business every year. I hope this process helps you reflect on the accomplishments you achieved in the past year and effectively set your writing goals for this year. Happy planning! Additional resources 3 types of writer goals you can set for the next year My experience using the HB90 method for writers How to write a novel in 90 days (writing challenge) Erin Condren Weekly Life Planners About the authorMaria Georgiou is a reliable and supportive developmental editor and beta reader for romance authors. She specialises in editing contemporary romance, YA romance, romantic comedy, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, fantasy romance and romantasy stories. She is a member of the EFA, ClubEdFreelancers and ALLi. Learn more about the author: About me Get in touch: Facebook, LinkedIn, Bluesky Learn about fiction editing: Resources Library and Blog Get a quote for your writing project: Get in touch with me form
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About the authorMaria Georgiou is a professional developmental editor and beta reader for romance authors. She specialises in editing contemporary romance, YA romance, romantic comedy, romantic suspense, paranormal romance, fantasy romance and romantasy stories. She is a member of the EFA, ClubEdFreelancers and ALLi. |
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