Writing Update: The Headache of Schedules

Perhaps the greatest hindrance to my writing success and peace of mind is the issue of schedules. I am a HUGE planner and I LOVE making a writing schedule. I keep a planner online, which allows me to copy/paste activities to the next day if I cannot complete them in time, and that freedom is both a blessing and a curse. 

When I wrote my first book, I did it in the span of 30 days, during July of 2018. I did that for the sole purpose of testing myself to see if I could write 50k words in 30 days, the goal for NaNoWriMo. This may be one of my many faults, but I hate undertaking a task unless I know I'll be successful. I didn't want to attempt NaNoWriMo without knowing I could actually do it. 

Surprise! I made my goal. 

Now, for a little context, I was road-tripping with family for that entire month (yes, a whole month - it was glorious), so I had a lot of in-the-car time with nothing else to do. My siblings had iPads with downloaded movies, but I get bored very easily of movies and I used that time to write (and yes, this also resulted in many arguments wherein I wanted them to be quiet and turn the volume down so I could hear my own thoughts - I was always outvoted, no surprise there, and, honestly, looking back on it, I can now see how outlandish my demands were!). 

Additionally, for that month, I'd outlined my book fairly decently (though, looking back, it was my most minimalist outline - this is a conversation for another day). Therefore, with a decent outline, plenty of time to write, and a deadline (anyone else out there with deadline anxiety?), I had no problem writing 50k words in 30 days. In fact, I finished a couple days early. 

However, for a long time afterwards, I had difficulty with writing schedules. 

I'm an overachiever and I love to pack my days to the fullest. I make a long planner in my notes like so:

Monday - 4
          • X
          • Y
          • Z
Tuesday - 5
          • X
          • Y
          • Z
I often make such a planner for several months in advance, with repeat events like "journal entry" every Saturday and "exercise like so" every other day. 

The issue arises, for writing in particular, when I look at that written-out schedule and fill in every open time slot.  

I know this is a lot of detailed background, but essentially what I'm trying to say is that I write overachieving schedules. 

And falling behind is a frustratingly common occurrence. 

However, recently, I've had a breath of fresh air as I make my schedules. Even as I write this, with today's writing not yet begun, I have no stress. 

Why?

I have begun adding a LOT of "catch-up" days to my schedule. I will have three days in a row where I plan to write a chapter daily, and then two days of catch-up. This, so far, has been the perfect fit! 

Now, this may not be the one-size-fits-all approach, but I encourage you to reflect on your past experiences with writing and scheduling and adapt your schedule with enough "catch-up" days so that you have freedom to miss a day and time to catch a breath and take a break, but without too much freedom to encourage procrastination. 

Additionally, a lax writing schedule may even give you a bit of a reward if you're able to write extra on those "catch-up" days. I've been able to do this, but a word of warning: do not adjust your writing schedule because you're ahead. Just appreciate the bonus and carry on. If you adjust, as I have in the past, you will most likely fall back into the original schedule, but feel like you've fallen behind. 

Life happens. I get it. Some days on which I think I have literally nothing to do except write arrive and BAM! So much to do! Family activities I was never informed of, last-minute trips, chaos, messes! 

I get it. 

It took me way too long to find an appropriate method of scheduling. 

Also, a final tip I'd like to offer: don't make a writing schedule in advance for a busy time of your life even if you think you know for sure how much free time you'll have. What do I mean by this? Well, for example, I'm starting a graduate program in the spring and, right now, I think I know how much time I'll have to write (weekends, holidays, etc.).

But I know myself even better. I'm not going to create a writing schedule for the spring until I'm at least a week into that lifestyle. 

Lastly, allow the busiest seasons of your life to be breaks from writing altogether. This is painful, I know, but having just come out of one of those seasons, I can speak from experience that it is beneficial in the long run. Not only is my writing energy renewed, but I have a greater appreciation for the time I have to write.

I hope this helps someone! Good luck on your writing journey! 

And don't forget - give God the praise and glory for everything <3 

Matthew 6:25-34 
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you - you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."


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