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How to Use a Planner to Make Time for Writing
Sometimes, amid the hectic day-to-day lifestyle that’s common for most of us, it can be difficult to find the time to write. Even if we write for a living, there are many other events, appointments, and tasks we need to do on an average day. Writing tends to be pushed to the side to make room for everything else. A great way to help combat the issue of not having time to write is to use a planner.
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Sometimes, amid the hectic day-to-day lifestyle that’s common for most of us, it can be difficult to find the time to write. Even if we write for a living, there are many other events, appointments, and tasks we need to do on an average day.
Writing tends to be pushed to the side to make room for everything else. A great way to help combat the issue of not having time to write is to use a planner.
3 Great Tools to Plan Your Writing
Google Calendar
Google calendar is one option to use as a planner. It’s a useful tool because it can link directly to your phone and email. If someone emails you a date you need to remember, you should automatically receive the option to add it to your Google Calendar (as long as you’re using Gmail). Once it’s added to the calendar, reminders show up on your phone when a scheduled event is happening.
In a world where we’re all on our phones so much of the time (too much sometimes), these reminders can help us put our phones down and get back to work!
In a world where we’re all on our phones so much of the time (too much sometimes), these reminders can help us put our phones down and get back to work! We can also use Google calendar to block time and set reminders when it’s time to write, read, edit, or whatever other writerly tasks we need to get done.
Dry Erase Calendar
A dry erase calendar can be something small that sits on our desk, or it can be larger and hang on the wall. They are handy because we can use them as many times as we want without having to replace them every year.
A bedroom or office wall is a great place to use a dry erase board because you can see it when you wake up or begin work in the morning and before you get done with work or go to sleep at night. You’ll be able to clearly see what you have going on each day.
The best thing about dry erase boards (or dry erase anything, really) is that if we need to change up our plans, we simply erase and move around anything that needs to be changed. It’s also fun to use different colored markers to keep things organized, or just for a bit of flair.
Paper Planner
A paper planner is very useful when it comes to staying on track with our writing. You can get them pretty much anywhere, but we love Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Whether or not you love a pretty cover, what’s inside the planner is what’s important. A day planner, rather than a monthly planner, will be the most helpful in terms of getting writing done every day. When you can see each day on a micro level, you can plan out when to do your tasks, including writing, and see that there’s enough room for it all. The Happy Planner (shown to the right) is an excellent paper planner!
The Happy Planner
Monthly planners can be helpful, too, especially for goal-setting. Many planners have both pieces, which means you can chart your goals and get there with small tasks in one handy place.
How to Use a Planner for Writing
Fill out your planner with non-writing events first. It’s important to start with this because sometimes there are events or appointments we have that are necessary, but non-writing related (like going to the dentist). If only we could spend every day writing, that would be the dream! Alas, we all have “real life” stuff to do, too, so we need to make sure that when we’re filling out our planner for the week/month, we start here.
When we start here, we won’t accidentally schedule writing or reading time for a day when we already have many back-to-back appointments or meetings. It’s better to set ourselves up for success and plan our writing times for when we know we will be able to dedicate our full attention to it, even if it’s only for half an hour.
Plan time to read. As writers, it’s critical that we read. It helps us to continually learn and grow as writers. Reading in the genre that we write is also a great way to learn about our own preferences and figure out which writing styles we want to use. It can be a great way to unwind and destress from a crazy day, too,
Personally, if I don’t put reading on my schedule, I hardly ever get to it, so I made it a goal to read at least three chapters a day. It’s the perfect amount for me, not too much, but not so little that it takes me months to read a single book. We each have to find whatever pace works best for our schedules and our goals.
Plan time to write. The main goal in using our planner for writing is to make sure we plan time to write! Once we’ve filled in all the major events, appointments, and meetings, then we can get to the good stuff - writing.
Some of us want to write every day, which can seem like a lofty goal. If we break it down, it doesn’t seem so out of reach. I try to allot one hour a day in my schedule for writing. This is another flexible idea that depends on each person. There are some days when we may have a couple hours to write, or maybe just a few minutes. Either way, I try to write at least a little bit every day.
Plan time to edit. Editing is an important piece to start scheduling once we have a complete draft to edit. Some writers may edit as they go, but others, like me, edit at the end of a project/book. To avoid the trap of over-editing (because our inner critic feeds on that), we find that it’s generally best to get through most of a draft before doing major editing.
When I schedule editing, I still like to work on writing too, since I have a few projects going at once. I’ll schedule times for writing, and separate times for editing.
Not everyone works this way! It’s absolutely fine if you remove writing from your planner to make room for editing a project. The reason it’s important to add editing to our planners is because it’s another thing that may fall quite far on our list of priorities if we’re not proactive.
If there’s time…In some planners, there are sections each week for extra tasks. In my planner it’s called “If there’s time…” which is a great addition when you can find a planner that has one.
This area is where we can put the tasks that aren’t as important, but we’d still like to if we have spare time. Like most people, I find that I often forget even the simple things if I don’t write them down, so it’s nice to have a space in my planner that helps me remember the tasks I wanted to do if I have time.
Use color coding. Color coding can help with organization, as well as add a bit of fun to planning. For example, we can choose a color to go with each type of task.
For me, anything I need to do with writing is written in pink, anything about reading is written in green, and any appointments are written in orange. But you can create whatever kind of color code you want!
Stickers and tabs are also helpful and fun because they can be a cute reminder or pick-me-up that also helps you separate out tasks that need to be done. We find that making our planners fun and colorful makes our to-do lists both more functional and less imposing (especially when it’s a long list!).
Give yourself small, bite-sized tasks. When we put too large of tasks on our lists and don’t finish them, it can put a damper on our spirits. Breaking larger tasks up into a couple of smaller ones makes finishing much easier. We get to check off multiple tasks on our list, and we feel accomplished because we at least started our project, or maybe even finished it.
For those of us who lack motivation or just need a little extra push, it’s also okay to include day-to-day tasks like brushing our teeth and eating breakfast in our planners. Even if it seems trivial, we need to make sure that we can get through our day as best we can - sometimes that means crossing things off of our list!
Give yourself small rewards for completing tasks. Small rewards are a great way to make completing our tasks more fun & exciting. Rewards can be anything from a ten minute break to a special snack to using a fun pen to check the task off the list.
Personally, I use a fancy gel pen to check off my completed tasks and it creates a feeling of satisfaction and I don’t need much else to keep me moving. If a task seems more daunting or cumbersome, Sometimes I need a bigger reward for completing it like buying a new pen or notebook. It all comes down to staying motivated. After all, you know yourself best - what will keep you going?
My challenge to you is to start using a planner - any kind of planner.
Do you already use a planner? What type of planner works for you? How do you stay motivated? I’d love to hear about your experiences and recommendations! Find me on social media or drop a comment below.
Let’s chat because you, my friend, are on your way to great writing.
5 Hacks for Outlining Your Writing
Outlining is more than just a tool for writing essays in school...As it turns out, if we have a basic outline or skeleton for our project, a lot of the work is already done when we sit down to write.
Outlining is more than just a tool for writing essays in school. I remember how annoying it used to be that we had to go through all the steps when writing essays. As it turns out, when it came to actually writing the essays, the outlines were a godsend!
It works similarly for writing books, short stories, or any other type of creative writing. If we have a basic outline or skeleton for our project, a lot of the work is already done when we sit down to write.
An Outline in Writing is:
...a flexible source of organization
Outlines can be constantly changing. They never have to be set in stone. Another way to describe it is a living document. We may start with one idea that morphs into a whole new project as we go along. Don’t fear change when it comes to writing.
...a handy guide
Outlines are nice to fall back on when we’re lost in a sea of thoughts, or maybe a lack thereof. They work to refocus our minds when there are so many other things working to distract us. These guides will keep us on task and keep us moving forward.
...a way to organize our thoughts
It’s easy to lose track of our thoughts, especially if we’re writing them down on random scraps of paper as they come. Having an outline gives us a place to compile all these thoughts and keep them somewhat organized. If we need to go back and reference a certain idea, it makes it that much easier to find what we’re looking for and get back to work!
...NOT an exact template (unless you want it to be)
Outlines are FLEXIBLE, they’re living, working documents. We each choose what we want to include, and no two outlines will look exactly alike. However, some of us enjoy more rigidity when it comes to planning/outlining and there are plenty of templates out there that we can use! Here’s what I use to organize my writing.
...NOT a cut and dry thing that will never change again
When we create an outline, it’s just the base for whatever we’re writing. As we continue to work on our writing project, new or changed ideas come to mind and we may need to adjust our original outlines. That’s okay! In fact, I might even go as far as to say outlines usually do change over the course of a writing project. There’s no rule that we have to stick to our outlines - they are, after all, only guidelines. Make changes as you go, and all will be well.
...NOT a “requirement” to write well
Not everyone needs an outline. They’re not required for quality writing, nor are they always necessary. There are two terms, “pantsing” and “plotting,” that refer to this idea: Everyone is different and not everyone outlines.
To be a ‘pantser’ means that you don’t use outlines, you do everything by the seat of your pants. To be a ‘plotter’ means you utilize outlines and plot out your details before beginning to write. Whatever mode you choose, we’re all capable of writing amazing creative pieces.
5 Hacks for Outlining Your Writing
1. Create a table of contents
We’ve all seen tables of contents in one form or another. It looks a little like this:
Table of Contents
Title
Intro…What is an outline?
Ch. 1… How to write an outline
Ch. 2…Different types of outlines
Ch. 3…Uses for outlines
Works Cited/References/Acknowledgements
It’s a great tool to keep track of how our writing piece will be organized, and to view our work as a whole. It makes life easier so we’re not always flipping back and forth between pages or tabs.
2. Make notes & keep them handy
Keeping a notebook at the ready helps ensure we have a spot to jot down any random writing related thought that pops into our mind. The Notes app on our phone is a great digital option, or the Journey app.
Writing ideas don’t always strike at the most opportune times, so it’s important we write them down when they do come. Otherwise, we’ll be stuck scratching our heads trying to remember the idea once we sit down to write.
If we keep all of our notes together and easily accessible, it will be easier to refer back to them when we’re writing. We won’t have to waste any time scouring our brains, or our writing space, for ideas. Time is precious when it comes to writing, as all writers have felt at one point or another.
3. Visually outline (or storyboard) the timeline & characters
Visual outlines help us envision how our writing will all come together. Most often we call these visuals storyboards. They can be physical or digital, and can include a whole host of things. For example: timelines, character charts, photos, writing schedules, word counts, and breakdowns of each chapter/section. They are a place to figure out if our plans make sense chronologically, if there are any holes, or if we need to head back to the drawing board.
Something we can incorporate into our storyboards, or that can become our storyboard, is a vision board. Vision boards are usually more photo-based, but can also be useful for imagining our writing coming to life. To learn a little more about how to create a vision board for your writing, read this.
4. Start your living document (your outline) & add to it as you go
Creating a living document is easiest to do digitally whether on a computer, tablet, or even phone. Once we have a document, we can just add and/or delete our ideas as they come. You can also use pen and paper to create a document for your writing - a journal of sorts. Just be sure that it’s something that won’t be lost or accidentally toss when you tidy up your writing space!
This is where we decide what type of outline to make. We can choose to follow a template, or come up with our own approach. There’s no right way to create an outline. Some common types of outlines include:
Web diagrams
Tables
Charts
It is up to each of us to decide what best suits our needs and is most useful. You can read more about specific descriptions of many different outlines here - and see some famous writers’ outlines in action!
5. Start writing!
Don’t get so caught up in the details of outlining that you forget to write. Sometimes it’s easier to stay in that pre-writing honeymoon phase, but we’ll never know how well our planning works until we put it to the test! If you’re a little stuck on where to start, read this - it will help.
As we go along, we can always refer back to our outline, changing and rearranging it as needed. Our writing often develops a mind of it’s own and strays from the path of our original outline, and that’s okay. Make new notes, adjust your outline, and keep pushing forward.
Next Steps
Don’t stress too much over creating an outline. Writing is meant to be a form of expression, and what’s most important is that we enjoy ourselves while doing it. Outlining is simply a tool that we can utilize to make the most of our writing. If it’s not something that works for you, no sweat. Do something that does work for you, even if that’s just going with the flow.
What now, though?
Gather all your notes on your current project (if you don’t have a current project, start fresh!). It doesn’t matter if it’s sticky notes or a binder filled with notes, or the messiest Google Doc you’ve ever seen: make sure to gather all of it into one accessible place.
Try out a method or two of outlining to see which one best fits your style. Remember, you don’t have to stick to this outline forever! If you decide along the way it isn’t working out, change it up.
Outline your work as best you can at this point. Remember, this is a living and flexible document and can change as necessary. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just get something written down that you can refer back to when you need.
Get help taking action! If you’re stuck and need help, click here to learn more about how to get writing coaching. Sometimes it’s hard to get the ball rolling and we need a little extra motivation or guidance, and that’s perfectly okay! Help is there if you want or need it.
I challenge you to create an outline for your next or latest writing project.
Did you use an outline template or create your own? How did it go? Was it helpful? I’d love to hear about your experiences and recommendations! Find me on social media or drop a comment below.
Let’s chat because you, my friend, are on your way to great writing.