Anyone who has been involved in a goal setting exercise should be familiar with the SMART acronym. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely and has been used for decades to ensure set goals can be met. But did you know you can use the same principle when you think about your writing?
Here is a translation of the SMART principle for writers to help you to think about your writing and generate ideas in a structured way. You can even use the principle to critique and edit your own work.
SPECIFIC
Most writers understand that concise writing is easier to read, comprehend and enjoy for the reader. However, specific writing can mean so much more than simply being concise. When looking at your writing, or considering idea generation, think in terms of the specific audience who will be reading it.
Consider whether the topic is specifically described, or is it too vague. Is your title titillating to your projected audience? What is your specific purpose in writing? Thinking about these things before you begin writing will enable you to be structured in your approach, and concise in your use of words.
Once you have written the first draft, consider whether it really does meet the needs of the specific audience you have in mind and whether you met your purpose in the writing.
MEASURABLE
The word count is the common measurable aspect to writing. Writing to a specific word count for your clients ensures your writing meets their needs and can help you to ensure your writing is concise when you are critiquing your work. A word count gives you a structure to apply to your writing by limiting the number of ideas you can string together in one lump.
The 80-20 rule is a great principle to employ when critiquing your writing. Generally, about 20 per cent of the words can be deleted to make writing concise. Once you have written your first draft, read over it with the idea of cutting about 20 per cent of the superfluous words.
ACHIEVABLE
When you set yourself targets of any kind, they should be achievable; otherwise you will feel like a failure. Make sure that your writing goals are achievable too. Overestimating the amount of work you can do in one day will lead to rushed writing and added stress if you suffer a mental block on the day. Go for quality rather than quantity and give yourself achievable projects that allow for editing and review time too.
REALISTIC
Even the best fantasy writers, creative poets and writers of fiction know that their stories, characters and poems have to be in some measure believable to their audience. Writing should be realistic.
You should also be realistic when assessing your degree of current knowledge about the topic, and factor in appropriate levels of research when it is needed. Good writers write what they know, and are realistic enough to know when detailed research is required before they can comfortably write about a topic.
TIMELY
Sometimes in goal setting, this part of the SMART principle is called Time-Framed. Either way, it can be successfully adapted to meet the needs of the writer. When thinking about the writing process, consider if the work you are doing is timely. Is this the right time to find an appropriate market fot your work. Writing about what to buy for Christmas is not likely to sell in January, for instance. Historical novelists should cross-check their work for all references to time to ensure they are appropriate, especially when talking about products that were not available yet in the time period you are writing about.
Meeting deadlines is another way to ensure your work is time-framed. Giving yourself mini-deadlines can be motivating as a writer and can encourage you to move from thinking to the action of writing.
If you apply the SMART principle to your writing, you will be able to effectively structure and critique your own work and improve your success rate in the market place.
This is the last article under T=Thinking Skills and I hope you have been enjoying them and finding even a kernal or two to help you stay creative. Next time I’ll be exploring I=Inspiration, (the first ‘I’ in CREATIVE HABITAS). Where do we get our inspiration from, why does it inspire us, how do we stay inspired? Just a few questions I hope I can shed some light on. Until then, stay creative and write well!
