28 Writing Prompts For February 2023

Writers Write shares writing prompts and writing resources. Use these writing prompts for February 2023 to get you writing.

This month we’re looking at how to achieve your goals.

[If you haven’t read it yet, read our January 2023 post.]

Setting goals is easy. You write down a list of what you would like to achieve in a few weeks, months, or by the end of the year. Done. Achieving those goals takes a bit more effort.

Big goals are achieved through a series of small steps. I like big goals. It is important to be ambitious and to aim for goals that scare us just a little. Writing a book is a big goal. We want to put down 80 000 plus words that intrigue, fascinate, and beguile our readers. But failing to achieve a big goal can lead to big disappointments. How can you safeguard yourself against big failures? You need to break down the goal into a series of small steps. It is not guaranteed, but it does increase the chances of success.

Small steps

Few writers sit down and write a book in one sitting. We write a draft over time. A few weeks, a few months, most of us, over a year. A sustainable habit will help you. This habit will create the small steps you need to achieve your goal.

Example:

You want to write a book of 80 000 words.
You have scheduled time to write on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That’s roughly 156 writing days if you stick to it every week.
To meet your goal of 80 000 words you will have to write 512 words per session. That’s about 1540 words per week.

That is definitely doable.

Homework:

Decide on a schedule. These monthly prompts will ensure that you have something to write about for all 365 days, but you can choose to write on weekdays only or for a few hours on a Sunday.
Decide on a time limit: 1 hour per day or three hours per week.
Diarise it.
Show up to the page.
Use the prompt for that day to get started.

If you would like to read more about successful systems check out Atomic Habits by James Clear.