Such has been the problem for the last couple of weeks. I recently smashed my records for the most words written in a month and in a week. Woohoo! Unfortunately, rather than spur me on to even greater things, this has had the opposite effect. Something went click in my brain and suddenly I felt like I’d earned a break.

Well, no actually Matt, you didn’t.

This break was not a conscious decision. It was more like an attitude that seeped in. Of course, I should have confronted this head on when I felt this insidious seepage, but alas, I just carried on doing trickles of writing and feeling guilty. The result is that not a lot of writing gets done, and there is now a general lack of motivation. Bad! Bad! Bad! Two steps forward, one step back (at least).

So, what should I have done? I’ve prepared a short list that I think will help me in future:

• Set out your next goals. Let’s keep that motivation going. You (and I, too. Everybody!) should take a look at the stats and decide what you should be chasing next. What’s the next goal? Play about with it. If this goal is achieved, what does that mean, and what else might be achieved? These are the motivating questions that ensured the last milestone was reached, so they should not be ignored now.
• And if you must take it easy… Then decide to take it easy! Don’t leave it to chance, don’t lose control. Set the boundaries. Are you going to do nothing for a set amount of days, or have a smaller wordcount target this week? What are the exact numbers? Stick to it! And now that you’ve decided on the conditions of your rest, don’t forget to set some goals for afterwards so you’re not left languishing!
• Pay attention! Are you having an unscheduled break? Is your wordcount dipping below acceptable levels? Feeling demotivated? Don’t ignore it! Confront it! Set some new goals or schedule a break, but again, make the decision!

Hopefully I’ll be able to practice what I preach! Motivation is pretty much everything when you’re working on something alone, so it’s important to be aware and to take control! Now let’s get to it!

So, I have a potential problem here. But should I be bothered about the fact that I currently have no ending? My Mind argues with itself thus:

Yes! If you don’t know your ending, what are you going to work towards?
An interesting point. Presumably I’m going to want to foreshadow my ending with hints about how the story will be resolved. I will have to make sure my characters have all the right tools, and that everyone is at the right place at the right time.

No! That’s what other drafts are for! Besides, you want to give yourself enough freedom to make the story end naturally.
I see. Over the course of writing my story, I will likely form a more coherent set of characters. What I’ve planned for them in the end might not fit with the story and people that have evolved as part of the process. Then I’ll be shoehorning an ill-fitting climax to the finish of my story!

Yes! What if you get to the end and you still can’t think if an ending?
Oh, I didn’t think of that. I don’t want to stall at the last hurdle, do I.

No! But how long are you going to wait? And in the meantime, what, you don’t start writing?
Well yes, I have to start some time. Although not writing it at all has a certain appeal. It certainly seems easier…

Yes! No! What!?
You’re right. Forget I said anything.

Or something like that anyway.

So, one failed experiment later, I am in slightly more comfortable territory, and am looking at ways to plan out my novel. One site I have found especially useful (I have pretty much decided to base my plan on the advice there) is Larry Brooks storyfix.com, and especially his ten part story structure series. What I now want to do, is get an outline of each of the four boxes he describes and what happens within them in my story.

Now, to be clear, none of what Larry says here is rocket science. Nor is it even new or unfamiliar. This structure is recognisable in most novels I’ve read and certainly in any good film I’ve seen (they are shorter, and so it’s much easier to see the structure). But having it all written down and elaborated on by someone who knows is really useful, and I’m sure it’s going to save me a good deal of head scratching.

Can you plan too much?

Yes. I really believe you can. And spoil the enjoyment of writing your story in the process. How much is too much? Ah, now there I cannot help. I have a strong feeling this will be down to the individual. My rule of thumb at the moment is to pay attention, and if it feels right to write, or if I know that any more planning is just procrastination, then I’m done.

Another couple of points I’m keeping in mind, just to keep things loose are:

Keep the details sparse

I think I’ll keep a separate document for working things out. This is because I tend to think my way through problems best by writing through them. This tends to create a lot of disorganised detail about various parts of the story, which is great, but not something I want cluttering up my outline, and probably something I don’t want to look at too often once the ideas have solidified.

Instead I will keep my outline clean by giving each major scene or part of the story a title, just to remind me what goes in it. I probably won’t go as far as naming every single scene, but the important ones will certainly get this treatment. Filling in the gaps can be done (to a certain, as yet undetermined extent) later.

Feel free to change it

The problem with writing down a plan (and probably a big reason for so called “organic” writers hating them), is that it makes things feel permanent. This does not have to be the case of course. I will keep my plan open at all times when writing so that I can change it on the fly should I think of another scene that can go in. I will also plan regular reviews if my plan so that I can change it in light of something I have written, and to check that I still like where it’s going.

So that’s the plan for the plan. I will of course, let you know how I get on. In the mean time I’d love to know your thoughts on planning and what methods you use. Please use the comments section below.

• How it’s going to be distributed?
• How you’re going to get the word out?
• Where the story fits in with your other work?

The reason this is on my mind is of course that I have recently finished a story. I’ve been dwelling on the whole process of getting the story out between writing stints and the picture of what I wanted to do grew gradually.

I’ll put the plan out there as an example. The story is about 9,500 words at the moment. This puts it in a kind of long-short story category I suppose (you know what I mean). I decided a while ago that I would write a series of science fiction stories around a quite specific theme and so decided that this one would work as an opener.

It is also my “practice” story; the first thing I’ve written from beginning to end since starting this website (how did it take so long?) and the launch of my newfound dedication to writing. By practice I just mean that my primary goal with this story was to get into a routine (to just write, dammit). I chose it because it was something I’d had in my head for a while, and was pretty well mapped out. I thought it would be an easy one to start with (I was wrong).

So, that’s where it fits. The immediate plan is to put it to one side for a couple of months and work on something brand new. Then I’ll come back to it and edit away from a fresher perspective. Then comes the point where I have to show it to people. I’ve got a small selection of friends and relatives I’ll share it with (I’m basically following Stephen King’s door shut/door open recommendations for these stages). In addition I may also bandy it around some writing community sites as well.

Then, after another round of editing I’ll show it to everyone! It will be a free download on this very site, so people get to see it and see what my writing’s like.

As far as the bigger picture goes, I will carry on with the other stories, and when they’re pretty much all ready to go, I’ll offer another free one out of the collection (again, getting the word out- everyone loves a free sample).

By that time I should have enough material and enough impetus to be able to sell the collection. Fingers crossed.

I’m under no delusions about how long this will take (at least I don’t think I am, but then if I was deluded, how would I know?). I intend to write other things as well, plus I’m writing at a snail’s pace at the moment! I’ll have to step it up a gear and still don’t expect this scheme to come to fruition for about three years(!)

Still, I always said I was playing a long game.

I had begun to get used to my routine. What i try to do is write on the train on my way home, just as in the grand plan I had when I  started this blog. My other writing time would be early Saturday morning.

Although I managed to get up regularly every Saturday and sit in front of my computer, the writing part would often come slow or not at all. As I have mentioned before, I would often end up fiddling with the website, or checking my emails and Twitter. Although that was my greatest opportunity of the week for getting my writing done, it was actually my train writing that was becoming most productive. I suspect  it was because this was a more regular event anyway, and I was much more inclined to work on my writing when I was fully awake! But whatever the reason, I was finding it easier and easier to slip into a writing frame of mind every work day. I had got to the stage when 80% of the time I could simply find a seat (and not be too picky about it either), open my laptop, and just go at it. No pondering. No time wasting.

The Problem

Then something happened. I had a week off work. Great, you may think, that’s more opportunity for writing, you can get more done! Well, yes it is. But no I didn’t. My routine was centered around my journey home from work. Without that time to myself and the “mental hook” I’d programmed my brain to hang it’s writing hat on, I was doomed.

What’s worse, since I’ve been back at work I seem to have taken several steps back in terms of the effectiveness of my routine. Now I’m back to pondering, putting off, or just not doing. I have to start all over again!

Lessons

I’m sure there are lessons to be had here. Here are what I think are correct assumptions to be made:

1. Routines do work – I was getting better at writing in my allotted time.
2. Don’t break them unless you really have to. Taking a holiday from work should not have meant taking a holiday from writing!
3. It’s good to have a bit of variety in your routine as long as you’re disciplined. I’ll use an example to explain. Part of my writing routine is supposed to include writing on a Saturday morning. At home, for two hours, rather than on the train for one hour or less. If I stuck to that i would have got more writing done during my holiday (or when trains are cancelled and I have to write at home). But I have not been disciplined enough with that part of my routine, so that particular bit of brain programming was not available to me.

These are the rules as they appear to me, but some people will disagree with some if them. For example, a lot of people advocate having one place, and one place only, where they write. That’s too difficult for me though I’m afraid. I’m out if the house from 8 until 8 most days, so the train is appropriate (though hardly ideal), but not enough.

Still others might take that rule further and abolish a set routine altogether. The idea here is that if you learn to write whenever the opportunity arises rather than boxing yourself into a set routine, you are in a better position to keep on writing when the unexpected happens. I don’t really buy that either. I see the reasoning but I’m sure that would lead to no writing at all for Matt. Plus I think that habit can be a very powerful tool when used for good! And I need all the help I can get!

And right now I need your opinions! What do you think about keeping a writing routine? Is it a help or hindrance? Do you have one that works for you, and what is it? What’s the weirdest writing routine you’ve heard of?

A while back, I wrote about reviewing your writing plan. I have also written about keeping motivated in your writing endeavors recently. I mentioned I should remember that although I have not stuck rigidly to my plan, I am doing more than I was at the beginning of the year.

But you can only really use that once or twice. In a month’s time, I will find it difficult to know if I am doing a little better than I am now. And with my free time the way it is (i.e. limited), I’ve got to move forward by degrees. How can I give myself that emotional lift if I don’t know I’m doing any better? How can I find motivation to push on and get better when I don’t know what better is?

So I thought about it, and it’s got to be down to numbers. If I had a bunch of stats to judge my performance, I can compare and see improvement. So I’ve decided to go for weekly word count, and time spent writing. The aim is to increase both every week. Adding that up over four weeks gives me totals for the month, so I can see the small improvements adding up to bigger changes.

I’ll keep it all on one spreadsheet so it’s easy as a quick reference, and I am not discouraged from looking at it. And that will do for now. All I want to see at the moment is that I am gradually putting more time in, and getting more done. At some point time may run out, but I’ll still be interested to see if I am being more productive with that time.

Is this useful to anyone else? Can anyone think of other ways to measure progress early on? Leave your comments below.

Such adjustments are a natural consequence of discovering how much you can do each month, and maybe trying to improve on that as well. But it could pay to take a closer look, and examine why exactly things went awry, or  why they went particularly well. As an example, I’ve just been planning my March tasks. I’m a little behind, which is disappointing considering how conservative I’d been with my goals, but I definitely feel like I can improve. The general feeling I’ve had is one of a lack of focus, and there will be small things I can do about it. I set out my tasks under several headings – write novel, write blog entries, write short story, yadda yadda, and so on. So, I’m on the train home, I take out the laptop, I look at my task list. I tended to pick the tasks I felt like doing at the time, regardless of what heading they were under.

As well as showing a distinct lack of priority for my most valued tasks, this leads to a bit of um-ing and ah-ing before I actually get started. But perhaps the worst effect is a lack of focus over the week. There’s is more of an effort made in getting into it (whatever ‘it’ I have chosen) each time. All of these things waste time, and likely produce poorer results. Time, as I may have mentioned, is precious for me, and I simply cannot afford to waste it on procrastination and a woolly-headed approach.

So, Each week, I pick one of my headed projects, and will concentrate on those tasks for the whole week. This should ensure I can get straight on with it, and that I am more likely to be in the right ‘headspace’. Simple? Yes. Am I stupid for not realising this sooner? Probably. Should I be embarrassed at my idiot mistake? I refuse! That won’t do anyone any good! No one should be afraid of admitting to even the slightest of mistakes and learning from them.

And with that in mind, I’d like to open up the floor to anyone else who has learnt something from having a plan and looking at how they have worked towards it. From reviewing, in other words.

I understand the principle of course. A journal encourages you to write your ideas as they happen, meaning they are never lost (unless you lose your journal of course), and you always have a history of recorded ideas to fall back on. A very useful side effect is that you are likely to write more often (every day even), whether you are working on a particular project or not. Also, you are training your brain to be more aware of potential ideas and inspiration (more on that later perhaps), and it provides an extra outlet for creative expression.

So with all that in mind, have I ever tried to keep a journal? Of course I have! But my attempts have been intermittent and abortive. Nevertheless, I would like to share these experiences with you and see what you make of them. In the future I will give updates on how I am journaling (if at all), and whether I think it is worth doing (for me).

My first journal was an unconscious attempt. I would write notes, poems, lyrics and bits of stories in an old school exercise book, just whenever inspiration struck. I also had a big ring binder where I would put stuff I was proud of – mostly work that got copied up from the exercise book.

That was way back when I was in high school. At uni I made several more formal attempts at keeping a journal. I had one where I would write notes, and fragments of ideas, but I wanted somewhere where I could write up work as well – so I had two books. Generally though, the idea of keeping work in a book didn’t feel right when you could do so much more with notes on a computer.

Eventually the two journals became one, and that in turn morphed in to more of a diary, which was fine. Except there wasn’t much to do with writing in it!

Now I have something I am much more comfortable with. I have a projects folder on my computer, and every project (or potential project) has its own folder within that. This is good for me because I travel with a laptop every day, so I have access to the files and folders most of the time.

I still keep a book, but it’s more for planning, and reviewing how said plans are going. As much as I love computers and prefer writing on them, sometimes it’s just nice to open a book and write in it. Plus, I love the look of a book filled with notes, and have something of a fetish for notebooks. So, this way I get the best of both worlds!

By the way, the thing that really helps with the projects folder, is a little thing called Dropbox. I have provided a link, but it deserves a special mention in a blog post of it’s own, so look out for that.

Do you keep a journal? Never felt the need? Let everyone know in the comments section below.

In the early stages of a project it feels really creative to get some ideas down and start shaping the thing that’s lurking in your mind. And it’s most joyous when it is as instant as possible. It allows me space to think, generate more ideas and importantly, not forget any! (How many times have you been writing a paragraph where an idea to include in the next paragraph comes to you, only for you to forget it by the time you’re ready to write it?)

One fantastic piece of software I use for this is Freemind. It is a mind mapping tool, and although it is not hugely sophisticated or feature rich, it is incredibly easy to use and quite flexible with the kinds of things you can include on your mind map. The software is designed around generating flow between your brain and the ‘page’. So everything is quick and easy to do and you almost never have to use the mouse – everything can be done through the keyboard. A lot of people may not like this concept, but you have to write if you’re taking notes, and constantly swapping between mouse and keyboard wastes time.

As well as adding long bits of text as nodes, you can add notes (if you want to write a couple of paragraphs for example), links to pages on the web, images, and links to other nodes (drawn as arrows on the page). You can also add little pictures to nodes to indicate what they are for, or format the text.

Another great thing about it is that it is written in Java, which means it can work on any operating system. And best of all – it is FREE!

Download it here, familiarise yourself with the keyboard shortcuts, and have a go. Let me know what you think in the comments section, and if you know of any other great software for writers, let everyone know!

Right!

And what does a plan need? Goals. It’s often said that people grossly under estimate what they can achieve in five years, but grossly over estimate what they can achieve in, say, a week. So let’s pick something simple – a year. It’s the beginning of the year still (well, just), so what would you like to achieve by the end of 2009 (I don’t know when you’re reading this, obviously, but if you’re half-way through a year, or even three quarters or whatever, don’t let that put you off. Still put some goals down for the end of the year).

If you’re struggling, you might like to work backwards from a longer time-frame. What would you like to have achieved after five years have passed? What would you have had to have done in the next three years to achieve that? Two years? One year? There’s your goals.

Now, let’s do a quick check. Are your goals:
1) specific enough. If you want to be well on the way to completing your novel, what does ‘well on the way’ mean? A certain percentage? 20 chapters?
2) realistic and achievable in that timeframe? Be honest. If in the back of your mind you know you can’t possibly come from nothing to be a worldwide bestselling novelist in a year, don’t write it down! Don’t give yourself the excuse you need to quit before you’ve even started!

Now, break it down (MC Hammer style). You know how many months you have to get this done. So what will you have to achieve each month to meet each goal? Do whatever is easiest in order to break the year down. Maybe you don’t know what you would have to do each month, but looking at any goal for the year, you should be able to decide where you want to be half way through the year. Then break it down further from there.

Got it? Good. So you’ve got goals, and you know whereabouts you should be at the end of each month on each of those goals. So let’s focus on the remaining weeks of the month. What are you going to do each week to make sure that you achieve your goals for this month? Can you see a pattern?

Now don’t worry if your first set of tasks looks a little flimsy – better that than they are simply unachievable, and you can reasonably expect that the first month might be filled with preparation for the months to follow (planning, sketching out ideas, research).

Of course, this might seem a bit OTT for some people. I’ve met a few people this comes naturally to, and they can even do it in their heads. Coupled with an ambitious drive, these are the people who seem well ahead of the rest of us, and get further, quicker. I am not one of those people – I have to write things down. This does several things for me:
- forces me to think about my goals in a logical matter of fact manner
- gets stuff out of my head that would otherwise be cluttering it up
- gives me a much needed framework.

I find that by the time I’ve finished writing something down, it already feels much more real to me – like it could actually happen.

This is not the whole story of course, but it is a start. And if you’ve never done it before, you may find this simple act to be more progress than you made last year!

Has this helped you? Do you plan already, and if so, do you have a different way of doing it? Let everyone know below.