How to set achievable goals
plus demystifying first pass pages
Being a professional writer requires a lot of juggling. I’ve got a lot on my plate, right now. My junior fiction series, BRAVEPAW, launches in September (more on this soon!). I’m drafting a new YA novel, due in October. I have twenty five days over the next four months where I’ll be speaking at schools, libraries or festivals. I’m doing manuscript assessments, judging awards, writing articles and assessing grant applications. I’m also a parent, partner, daughter and friend.
But I’m keeping on top of it, you know?
Then this morning, the first pass pages of my 2025 YA dark academia fantasy arrived in my inbox, due back in a week.
And I’m not complaining. I am so lucky to get to do this! I love my job, and I am grateful for it.
Okay, I am complaining a little bit.
Achievable goals
I was given six months to draft this new YA novel (working title Oubliette, although knowing my track record, it will change before publication). I usually aim for 80,000 words, so that’s around 615 words a day, if I wrote every day (excluding weekends). 3000 words per week.
On a good day, I can write 2000 words (more if I’m on retreat). But not every day is a good day, so I never aim for that much. Some days require more thinking or planning or brainstorming. Some days I have to focus on other projects (like those first pass pages). Failing to meet ambitious goals is deflating. Achieving small goals is energising. Modest, achievable goals will get you there.
I’ve set myself a goal of 4000 words per week, to create a bit of a buffer (remember those 25 days of public speaking coming up). And some weeks I do less (last week was 3195, the week before was 2277). Most weeks I do more (my best week so far was 7122). Currently I’m a cool 18,000 words ahead of schedule, which is great because of those aforementioned public speaking days. I try never to write on weekends, or days when I have a gig. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
First pass pages
I have just received the first pass pages for my 2025 release, Unhallowed Halls. It’s a dark academia YA fantasy featuring tarot cards, a crumbling boarding school on the Scottish moors, an eccentric squad of besties, standing stones, and demons. I will be sharing the cover soon. It is DIVINE.
First pass pages is the first round of proofreading. We’ve done structural edits and copyedits, and the book has now been typeset. And a proofreader (or two) has been through it with a fine tooth comb.
Some issues are revealed in typesetting, like the repetition of the word long here:
Sometimes it’s missing words, or extra words, or tense issues accidentally created during the editing process.
There are a million little comments and things to check. Spelling and punctuation must be consistent with the house style. Quotes must be checked.
The proofreaders are very good. Their work is invaluable. Is it a tedious process? Yes. But so important. Once I’ve been through it all and made the necessary changes, it will go back to my publisher, then return with second pass pages. Then we do it all again. It’s impossible to catch every last error, but we do our best!
Where I’ll be next month
I’ve just come back from the Whitsunday Voices Literature Festival, which was an absolute blast (and a wonderful break from this brutal Melbourne winter).
In a couple of weeks, I’ll be heading to the Byron Bay Writers Festival, appearing on their Schools Program, and doing a panel on the general program with Lynette Noni and Rhiannon Patrick. More info here.
Then the chaos of Book Week descends! This year I’ll be touring schools in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Read
I loved Kaliane Bradley’s Ministry of Time - a great mix of time travel, thriller and public service bureaucracy. Also Lauren Draper’s Return to Sender, which is a gorgeous contemporary Australian YA about small towns, family secrets and dead letters. Recommend!
Watch
I was expecting My Lady Jane to be somewhere between Bridgerton and The Great, but it actually feels like it has more kinship with Horrible Histories. Either way, it’s very enjoyable. I have also managed to get through (checks notes) eighteen seasons of Greys Anatomy since February, mostly in the background while doing housework or craft projects.
Make
I’ve been taken over by a craft bug! I finished knitting a gorgeous top, completed two quilts that have been sitting dormant in a tub for years, and knocked off another one as well. More on this in a future newsletter!
Lili Wilkinson is the award-winning author of nineteen books for young people, including After the Lights Go Out and A Hunger of Thorns. Lili has a PhD from the University of Melbourne, and is a passionate advocate for YA and the young people who read it, establishing the Inky Awards at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. Her latest book is Deep is the Fen.
Love this insight into the proofreading process. I always thought that was my dream job, but I don't think I am exacting enough!
You are amazing, Lili.