G- G is For Goals

     There is nothing more helpful than setting your goals. 'Fire, ready, aim' doesn't really work that well. For me, I always manage to try to write at least 1000 words a day. Hopefully more like 3000. To be honest, some days that just doesn't happen, but it at least keeps me on track and feeling uncomfortable if I'm slacking off.

     I've been told some people don't work this way, but it helps me.

     Another type of goal you need to concern yourself with is the goals of your characters. They all must--at least, the main ones--have very clearly defined goals and motivations for said goals. Without goals, there and can be no conflict, and without conflict, there can be no book. The more specific the goal, the better. Something like: "Find fame and fortune" doesn't work... Well, not unless you have a really, really, really strong motivation, but we'll get to that later. Something like: "Find where I belong" is a good start, but narrow it down to... "Do I belong amongst the men or the elves?"

     See where this is going? A broad goal is great to start with, but whittle it down to a focused point. Once you have your character's goal, you will be able to create conflict, and once you can create conflict, you can create a story.