The titular pun was for the fiction writers in our midst.

Today I’ll examine goal-setting and business planning from a new angle. Next week, look for a new interview with Gwen Moran, co-author of "The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Business Plans" about building a better business plan from the ground up. We’ll also be running a second giveaway, featuring Gwen’s book, on the message boards so watch for details there!

In a recent online discussion in another forum, freelance writer Dalia Fahmy shared how someone helped her arrive at a new way of goal-setting. Instead of setting outcome-driven goals for the year (i.e., 5 clips in national magazines and 5 in major newspapers), she shifted her focus to process-oriented ones (i.e., writing and submitting 2 new pitches per week).

The shift was powerful. The outcome-based method often left her feeling discouraged if her efforts  weren’t netting immediate results. But when Fahmy began looking at her pitches as sales calling cards and the beginnings of new relationships that could bear fruit later on, she felt like a success even when she received a rejection from an editor, since she was meeting her pitching goals and building key relationships. She’s now also able to follow up more aggressively and ask those editors if there are any areas she might help fill.

The result? Many more nibbles three weeks into the year than she saw for the bulk of last year, two great assignments, and e-mails from editors welcoming more pitches. Powerful stuff, this shifting of paradigms. I’ll check in with Dalia later in the year to see how her new way of goal-setting is affecting her business.

In "The Well-Fed Writer," author Peter Bowerman offers a simple formula for calculating your daily earnings by picking your annual goal and counting backwards. So $100,000 a year equals $8000 a month equals $2000 a week equals $400 a day. When he first did this equation, Bowerman asked himself, "Where’s the 400 coming from today?" He then wrote these figures and the question on a piece of paper, made copies of it, and posted it throughout his apartment where he’d see it often.

When I first read this, it was akin to that moment when the mayor hits a switch in the darkness and you find your town square awash in the glow of brilliant holiday lights. Planning the way I ran my business based on the minimum I needed to earn to make my financial goals had never occurred to me before. I determined my own daily number and wrote it on my chalkboard in my office, where I see it daily, and I ask myself the question, "Where’s my bottom dollar amount coming from today?" It’s a handy trick for helping you see if you’re on track or need to step things up more to make your weekly or monthly goals.

Try these new ways of viewing the future for your own writing business, whether you work with consumer magazines, chapters in novels or nonfiction books, trades, or corporate work. And visit our message boards to tell us how it’s improved your workflow, attitude, and/or results!

Next week, we’ll examine what elements comprise a sound business plan for writers, with the aid of Gwen Moran’s expertise on the subject. Also, we’ll be having a giveaway of her book on the subject on the message boards.

We’d love to hear your thoughts. Share your progress, add your insights, or ask questions on our message boards. Click here to comment!