Get Started Right Writing Task: 011
Get each week started on the right foot with Get Started Right Writing Tasks. For this week’s task, check in on your writing goals.
Before getting into this week's writing task, I just want to give a heads up that I'll be taking a break from the Get Started Right Writing Tasks in the month of April while I lead the 19th Annual April PAD (Poem-A-Day) Challenge. Find the guidelines here.
For this week's Get Started Right Writing Task, do your quarterly check in on your goals for the year (if you have any). It's not only good to set goals at the beginning of the year (or week or day), but it's also important to check in on them from time to time, either to reset your focus or make adjustments in what you're trying to achieve.
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Writer’s Digest University is pleased to present a one-of-a-kind online event for memoir and personal essay writers! On April 17-19, 2026, our WDU Memoir and Personal Essay Writing Virtual Conference will provide expert insights from SEVEN authors. Spend the weekend learning the finer points of writing memoirs and personal essays, and optionally participate in a query letter critique from a participating literary agent or editor.
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Here's my quarterly check in:
You can find my 2026 writing goals here. And I've got to say that I'm not doing as bad as I thought I might be.
In fact, I've been keeping pace for some of these already: writing at least 1,500 words a week; writing at least one poem a week (sometimes many); reading a new book each month; making at least one poetry submission per month (actually, only doing one per month so far, but that counts); and checking in on my progress at the beginning of each month.
That only leaves finish the first draft of a novel, put together a collection of poems, and attend at least four in-person literary events during the year. And well, it's still not impossible that I might achieve all three of these; we'll see, I guess.
I hope everyone else is at least within striking distance of their own goals. And if not, be willing to recalibrate.
