Writing as a PLANNER
Your plans have plans…
You are a planner, and you love to have the entire project outlined. Your plans have plans. You love routine (and even rituals) when writing, and find comfort in knowing what you are going to write about. You work best using writing prompts that you make from your outline. And you find it difficult if new ideas pop up, or if things feel as if they aren't going according to the plan.
Which can be a problem. Because stories can have a mind of their own - even when they are your own lived experiences. Stories love to go off-roading, and sometimes it is less about writing, and more about holding on for the ride.
In addition, writing a book is such a transformative experience, and the very act of writing it will change you. It isn’t possible to plan for every change that you will experience as you write, or the new ideas that will come to you when you are writing. Your plans often don’t account for wanting to go deeper than you intended when you started writing.
Writing a book almost never goes according to the plan, but if you let it, then it will go exactly as it should. So how do you navigate this as a planner?
Here are 3 things that I know have worked for planners:
Plan by category or theme.
This can be more helpful than strictly deciding exactly what each chapter will be or what stories or examples you want to include before you start. This allows for you to add stories or ideas that come to you as you are writing into the relevant category, and then decide if/how you are going to include them.
I also find that having one category for miscellaneous helps - in case you have an idea that doesn’t feel as if it fits at all, or in case while you are writing something it feels as if it doesn’t belong. Just put that writing into the miscellaneous file or category (don’t delete your writing) and you may find a place for it later - even if it is in another project.
And if you are struggling to keep those plans in order then the next tip should help.
Make the most of technology. As a writer, technology can be your friend. I found Trello was very useful when I was planning my book, to keep my categories in order, and to keep track of finished or unfinished passages, and notes, prompts and even music or pictures that I want to keep track of.
I use Google docs to write, but Scriverner is also an amazing tool for writers. These can help you keep track of your writing - even when you go off-plan.
Creating your own writing prompts. Just about every writer gets blocked while writing. For a planner, having your own writing prompts can be very helpful during the process. You can create prompts from your ideas, based on the stories or examples you know you want to write about, or around your themes. When you get stuck, you can take out a prompt that really appeals to you and write about that.
And don’t worry if it isn’t in order - no writing is wasted! you can insert it later in the manuscript when you get to that section.
Ultimately, the most useful thing for every writer is to know your writing style and understand what conditions you need to make the most of it.
If you want to explore that more, check out my “Let’s write Success Guide” - a video training with an accompanying workbook - that I have created. It comes with a video that goes more deeply into the topic, and prompts and exercises that empower you to start strong, and improve your chances of success as you write YOUR way.
You can grab that resource here.
And I love sharing ideas, examples and my own personal experiences about what helps get through blocks when writing. Now that you are on my mailing list (and if you aren’t join here), you’ll receive my bi-weekly blog posts on this topic, as well as on strategy that will keep you writing until you reach your goals!
Want to learn about the other writing styles? Click on the links below.