Why Tracking Writing Goals Makes Big Projects More Rewarding - FREE Download
When a project is large, progress often hides inside the work. A writer may spend a whole afternoon solving one scene, cutting a weak section, or organizing notes. The word count might barely move, but the project still improves. That is why tracking needs to include more than finished pages. A useful system records real writing work. The Goal Success Track Template (GST) does the calculations for you: current date, Color Change for Focus/Completion, and a countdown to your chosen Due date. Enter the italicized sections, due date, assignments, and completion dates, and watch your progress grow.
Start Tracking Your Success Today
Every big writing project becomes messy at some point. Ideas multiply. Notes scatter. The middle section sags. A chapter that seemed easy suddenly needs a new structure. This is normal, but it can still make the project feel out of control. A tracker becomes a map through that mess, and one that calculates where you are is even better.
Download Directions
You can either open it in Windows Excel or Google Spreadsheet. The download instructions are for importing into Google Sheets.
Import Directions: File, Import. (Figure 1)
Click Browse, check the Downloads folder: Goal Success Track Template (Figure 2)
You can choose which three options appeal to you. (Figure 3)
GST is now available to help you track your success. (Figure 4)
Word For the Year/Mission Statement
When you choose a word for the year, think about the overarching theme of your writing. The mission statement should expand on what that word means to you and how it shapes your writing progress. (Figure 5)
Changing the Project Names
Click on the drop-down arrow under Projects and highlight/click the drop-down. (Figure 1)
A box will open that lists general projects. (Figure 2)
Click the box labeled Project 1 and change it to your current work in progress. You can also add more projects if you have more than three current works in progress.
Click Apply to All after you change your project names (Figure 3)
You will have a red triangle at the project; go to the drop-down and change to the "new" project names.
Devising Achievable Assignments
A goal like “finish the book” sounds inspiring, but it can also feel too large to act on today. The brain needs something closer. Breaking goals down into "wins" helps writers show up on the page. On hard days, the GST can point back to the work already done. On distracted days, it can show the next step. On doubtful days, it can remind the writer that the project has survived difficult sessions before. Achievable goals aren't always measured by word count. Revision often removes words. Research may add no words at all. Planning may prevent days of confusion later. A strong tracking system respects different types of progress.
Try grouping goals by stage:
Writing stage | Useful goals to track |
Planning | Scenes outlined, questions answered, sources gathered |
Drafting | Words written, pages completed, time spent writing |
Revising | Sections edited, problems fixed, feedback reviewed |
Finishing | Proofreading passes, formatting tasks, submission steps |
This keeps the tracker fair. It also prevents the common mistake of treating drafting as the only “real” writing.
A project moves forward every time the work becomes clearer, stronger, or closer to being shared. These tasks may look small on their own, but together they become momentum. Some examples:
Drafting new words or pages
Revising a chapter
Outlining a section
Reading source material
Solving a plot or structure problem
Sending pages to a reader
Reviewing feedback
Write 500 words
Spend 30 minutes organizing research
Read one chapter of reference material
Fix the opening paragraph
Due Dates Protect Motivation
Without a record, the mind often focuses on what remains unfinished. With a record, the writer can see what has already been built. That shift can change how the project feels. These goals work because they are clear and reachable. They ask for effort, not perfection. They also create frequent moments of success, which is one of the most rewarding parts of goal tracking.
Success keeps showing up. Not once at the end, but again and again along the way.
That matters because waiting for the final result can drain motivation. A writer who only celebrates the completed manuscript may go months without feeling any sense of achievement. A writer who tracks smaller goals gets steady reminders that the project is alive. Pick doable due dates; give yourself a month or even two months. If you finish early, all the better to celebrate.
Celebrate Your Success!
When you complete a project, enter the completion date under 'Completed'.
Erase the Due on date
Under 'Status', change your Status to 'Done'.
Everything will gray out automatically, a visible symbol of achievement. Congratulations.
Clarity saves energy. It also lowers the chance of avoiding the project because it feels too complicated. Instead of returning to a vague feeling of “I should work on this,” the writer returns to a clear next step. Writing offers few instant rewards. The finished piece may take weeks, months, or years. Feedback may arrive late. Publication may be uncertain. Even personal projects can feel lonely when the only visible proof of progress is a draft folder full of unfinished files. GST adds reward back into the process. That feeling is powerful. It builds trust. Over time, the writer starts to believe that small sessions matter. Ten minutes can count. One paragraph can count. A hard revision day can count. The reward isn't just the number going up. The reward is seeing commitment turn into evidence. That is how large projects become less overwhelming. Not all at once, but step by step, with each small success making the bigger goal feel more reachable.
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