What are Writing Sprints and How to Do Them

Being a writer comes with many challenges, one of which is the dreaded writer’s block. There are some lucky writers out there who never experience writer’s block, but for most of us, they’re simply part of the experience. 

If you’re struggling with writer’s block, or just want to get some writing done (but can’t seem to find time), a writing sprint may be the perfect solution.

What is a Writing Sprint? 

A writing sprint is a form of timed writing. You set a timer for however long you want to write and go. Some common time limits for a writing sprint are 20 minutes, 40 minutes, or an hour. You can do more or less depending on what you want to get accomplished and how long you’ll stay focused. 

If you’re doing a longer sprint, it can be helpful to break it up into smaller portions with a short break in between. The Pomodoro Technique can be incredibly helpful for writing, too.

Once you choose the length of time and set your timer,  all you have to do is write. The most important thing to remember for sprints is that anything goes. Don’t worry about making sense, correcting or using great grammar, or whether what you’ve written is “good.” The main goal is to get words onto the page. Sometimes you’ll find you’ve written a masterpiece in this time. Other times, you want to delete the whole block when you’re done. What matters is that you wrote. 

Why Use Writing Sprints?

Writing sprints can help you to make progress on your writing project and defeat writer’s block. Whether you’re writing a novel, short story, or an article, sometimes we need help to get back into the swing of writing. 

Writing sprints help you get into writing faster. It forces you to think fast and dump your thoughts onto the page without a filter. This is a great way to test out new ideas and storylines. If you don’t like what you wrote in the end, you’ve spent less than an hour instead of days. 

By breaking writing into smaller chunks of timed writing, it makes the whole task less overwhelming. Writing anything can be a daunting task, which is how writer’s block can set in. The feeling of not knowing where or how to start is something writers have been navigating for hundreds of years. 

With writing sprints, you don’t have to worry about it. You’re just putting words on the page during the time on your timer. You don’t have to try to write the next American epic. All you have to do is put some thoughts onto paper (digital or otherwise). If it’s not a good fit for your work in progress, you can always edit it later.

When you’re writing with a timer, it gives you less time to dwell on the minute details. Knowing you’re on a time frame pushes you to keep writing rather than look back over what you wrote. You can lose so much writing time by worrying about what you’ve already written. When you get obsessive with editing as you write (it’s happened to us all), you won’t get very much done. 

There’s less pressure to be perfect when you do writing sprints. If you make a mistake, you have it in the back of your mind that you can or will have to fix it later. If you realize what you wrote is a tangent and has nothing to do with the overall story, you can take it out later. You never know when you may write a few great sentences that will take your story to the next level. You might also write garbage you’d never share with anyone. Anything can happen.

Even if you realize you need to delete the whole block you just wrote, at least you know that’s not the direction you want to go and you can try something else. There’s always a benefit when you’re writing - whether it’s progress in your project, or experience to learn from. 

5 Easy Steps to Do Effective Writing Sprints

1. Choose an amount of time - we recommend starting with 20 minutes first to see how that goes. If it works well, then try more.

2. Set a timer - You can use an app that makes it more fun, like the Forest app (which grows trees while you stay off your phone!), or a regular timer.

3. Do the sprint - Write words and have fun!

4. Take a break - If you’re doing a longer sprint, try to take a break mid-way through. If you want to keep writing, go for it, but breaks can help rejuvenate your brain and body and increase creativity.

5. Do another sprint if you feel like it - Sometimes we reach the end of our sprint and want to keep writing. If this happens to you, that’s awesome and you should definitely keep going. If it’s not, that’s okay, too. Schedule your next sprint session and congratulate yourself for making some progress. 

BONUS: Find an accountability partner & sprint with them. This can be a friend, someone you met on social media, or just someone else who likes to write. If you can’t find a partner, you can also text someone you trust and let them know you need an accountability friend. Let them know when you are sprinting and when you’re done. Make sure to choose someone supportive and who will cheer you on. 

Happy sprinting!

4 Creative & Productive Ways to Use Post It Notes

Do you use post it notes? In school we used them for taking notes in lieu of highlighting in books, or as bookmarks. As an adult, I’ve found many more uses that help to keep me productive as a writer. Not only do they help me stay organized, but I use them to keep me on track and keep me motivated. 

There are many ways to help yourself be more productive. If you haven’t tried to use post its in these creative ways, you should. 

4 Creative Ways to Use Post-Its

As a writer, all the thoughts and ideas that swirl around in your mind can be overwhelming. Sometimes you need new techniques or tools to help you organize them and keep you moving forward towards your goals. 

Here are four of the best ways I’ve found to use post its for my productivity.

Making Notes when You’re Reading 

Whether you are reading fiction or nonfiction, taking notes as you read can help when you find something you want to take with you into your own writing. What better to make a quick note than a post it? 

Anytime I come across a certain technique, trope, or tip I like in a book, I stick a post it on the page, noting what I want to remember. This allows me to move on without too much distraction. It’s also helpful when I’m working on my own writing and want to try out some of the same techniques. I can go back to my post it notes instead of wasting precious writing time skimming that part of the book.

There are so many ways you can use post its as you read. It might mean noting the way a certain author uses dialogue, or the way they describe a character. It can even be as simple as liking a word and not wanting to forget it. Writing is a process and you can use sticky notes to fit your style. Have fun with it! 

You can color code, like using yellow for dialogue and orange for descriptions. Whatever helps you remember the best, try it out! No harm in testing new strategies, right? 

Organize Writing Notebook 

If you have a writing notebook, you can use post its to organize it. Writing notebooks are a great resource for anyone working on creative projects, especially long ones. Curious about what goes in one? Read this.

Post its can differentiate the sections of your writing notebook. If you already have tabs, you’re ahead of the game! Post its can still be useful to flag information you’ll reference a lot or that you know will be important later in the writing process. 

Sticky notes can also keep your scenes in order. You can mark each section within your notebook with a different colored post it, or label them if you don’t like to use color coding. 

Everyday Reminders & To Do Lists

Whether you’re a full time writer, or simply write for the love of it, most of us are busy. Planners are useful, but sometimes you may need a little extra reminder. When there’s something pressing that I have to get done in a day, I use post its to remind myself. 

I’ll make a to-do list and stick it on my computer or put the most pressing task on my bedroom door so that when I inevitably exit, I’m reminded of that task. We can’t remember everything, and we don’t need to with helpful reminders like this around! 

Motivation

Just as you can stick to-do lists around the house where you’ll be sure to see them, you can (and should!) stick motivational quotes or sayings around the house, too. Even if you aren’t someone who believes in manifestation or the power of positive thinking, having words you love around you will put you in a good mood.

For example, try writing “You can do this!” on a post-it. Stick it to your mirror and every time you look at yourself in the mirror, you’ll get a little happy reminder. Being your own cheerleader is a great way to keep yourself motivated. It’s nice to have others cheering us on too, but we spend the most time with ourselves. We need to be able to boost ourselves up when we need it. 

When you’re feeling down, look at your quotes and let them remind you why you’re doing this. You are strong. You are brave. You can do this. Don’t let negative thoughts or imposter syndrome get the best of you. Use your post it notes as an easy way to surround yourself with positivity. 

Keeping inspirational quotes handy can also help when you encounter writer's block. You never know when you’ll need a little extra spark of inspiration to get the writing juices flowing again. Have a few of your favorite inspirational quotes written on post it notes in your writing area and look at them whenever you get stuck. 

Find your favorite post its, try out some new strategies, and see what works best for you. Incorporate that into your daily life! Sometimes we forget that there are ways to make our lives easier, and need a reminder that we don’t have to do this (or figure it all out) on our own. If there’s something else you use that helps you stay productive, let us know so we can share it with our writing community!

How to Create a Character Timeline You’ll Actually Use

When writing stories, it’s good to have an understanding of exactly who your characters are and what makes them important. Why is the main character the main character? What made the villain a villain? 

This is where a character timeline comes in handy. Timelines can also help keep track of when all events, big or small, are happening in the story so you don’t lose track of where your characters are. They help you stay organized.

What Makes Up a Character Timeline?

Like most other things in writing, there are many ways to create a timeline for your characters, and many options to include. Personally, I like to draw an actual timeline in my notebook; one for each main character, including protagonists, antagonists, and any other major players in the story. 

You can also create a digital timeline or physical timeline with sticky notes or a dry erase board. After the basic timeline is created, having a more in-depth character chart can also be useful.

In your character timelines, make sure to include these 3 key components:

Major events that shape the character, before and during the story. Major events include anything that’s important enough to greatly impact or change the character’s arc. This doesn’t necessarily mean that every single event has to be on the timeline because that might get overwhelming; however, it does mean that anything that changes the character’s life or outlook should be on the timeline. 

Character origin, or where they came from. When you think about “origins” you might be thinking specifically about location. While this can be important, the piece that’s important to the character timeline is their relationship to the other characters -where they came from and how long their relationship has been going on with the protagonist or antagonist. In some genres, location is much more important, but for timeline purposes, you want to think about each character, how they progress, and how that progression is related to the others in the book.  

Character end goal, or where they end up. Although it’s likely you won’t know the exact ending until it arrives, you should have some idea where you want each character to end up. You can include info about the actual ending, or some ideas about how you want their arc to end. Where do you want this character to be by the end of the book?

Why is a Character Timeline Important?

As exciting as it is to start thinking about and writing a new story, it can also be overwhelming. I’ve found that a good place to start is taking time to flesh out the main characters. 

Character timelines can identify plot holes so we can fill them, build in foreshadowing as we’re writing, and help us create more intriguing characters in general.  

Character timelines can identify plot holes so we can fill them, build in foreshadowing as we’re writing, and help us create more intriguing characters in general.  

For instance, in my most recent WIP, I started with 3 timelines. I knew who the main character was, who the love interest would be, and who the antagonist would be. I started their timelines to figure out where they would intersect. 

As I was creating the timelines, I was able to determine what drove my main character toward the others. This piece helps me build in foreshadowing about major events and make sure nothing big is missing from the story as a whole. I also learned exactly what happened in each character’s past made them who they are, which allows me to weave in interesting details throughout - including special interactions between characters and even humor!

How to Build a Character Timeline

When putting together a character timeline, start with where your story begins. Think about these questions: 

• Who are the characters we should care about right away? 

• How do they relate to the main character? 

• Is there a specific event the story opens on? 

For example, in my WIP, the main character starts as a 14 year old. There were obviously events that led to this point, but for now, the important things are why the story starts here and  what event marks the beginning of the story? This is the beginning of your timeline. 

Once you determine a starting point (remember, this can always change later on!), think about what brought them to this point. Pay close attention to: 

• Traumatic events

• Joyful events

• Key people they’ve met & interacted with

• Actions they took

• Anything that could be defining for them throughout the story

When you’ve determined more about where the character came from, you can start looking ahead to their future! Where do you want or see them ending up as of right now. One of the most beautiful (and sometimes frustrating) things about writing is how much it can adapt as we’re doing the writing. 

That being said, your story has to go somewhere! So it’s good to have a working idea of where each character is headed so you can help them get there. It doesn’t have to be a fairytale ending, or a gruesome ending for that matter. You might also find that, as you write, your characters decide their own fate, which is great! For now, just give it your best educated guess.

The final step in the character timeline is to fill in the steps that will get your character to their end goal. As you’re thinking about these steps, consider: 

• Major milestones

• Major and minor events that define the character’s experience

• When important relationships begin and end 

• New people they meet

• Major shifts in their mindset and/or beliefs

All of these pieces, especially other people, can be critical for the character and how they develop.

Character timelines are a great way to enhance your writing, not to mention they can be a lot of fun! I love creating timelines for my characters because it really helps me get to know each character better. Ultimately, it also helps readers love my characters, too, because I can incorporate all the pieces and details from the timeline into the story. 

When readers can see and feel back stories, strengths, and weaknesses from the characters, it helps them connect.  It makes everything more real. Connecting to readers in these ways are super important for writers!

My challenge to you is to create a character timeline for your current story. 

Have you used character timelines before? Did you find it helpful? What’s your favorite part about creating a character? 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.

How to Make a Table of Contents in Google Docs

I’m super into organization. It’s kind of crazy, honestly. Think Post-Its and color coding everywhere. 

The one place I wasn’t organized was my creative writing. Elsewhere, I’ve written about how I am pretty free range with my creative work because it feels better for me that way. While I’m very much still in favor of doing what feels best for my creative writing, once you actually have a good amount of writing it gets unwieldy without some sort of organization. It’s much easier to be able to click a link and have the document jump to where you want to go.

No one wants to scroll through 10K words to find the one you just saw that you wanted to fix. Especially if you don’t remember what it is, but you know you’d recognize it if you saw it again. Believe me, personal experience has shown that this method is irritating at best and highly uninspirational when you actually want to get some creative work done.

Hence the Table of Contents - lovingly called the ToC for short - was born. At least in my world. 

I’m a huge fan of the Google Suite, and I use Google Docs for just about everything. It’s not that there aren’t downfalls, but Google Docs is cloud-based, which means that it saves for me. You can also open it anywhere you can log into Google from - pretty great. 

This is why my novel lives primarily in a Google Doc. I definitely have backups (because you should ALWAYS have backups), but anytime I write digitally, it’s in that Google Doc. Today I wanted to share how to create a working Table of Contents for Google Docs, because it’s saved SO much time and energy as I’ve been working on my book. It will also work for you as you write more, you don’t have to have chapters already in place or anything!

How to Make a Table of Contents in Google Docs

Creating a ToC in Google Docs is quick and easy. There are multiple ways to go about it, and there is an option to use a pre-made table of contents in Google Docs.

I personally don’t use that because I feel like the way I’m going to show you (that I use on the daily) is easier and more flexible; however, feel free to experiment with whatever you like as you’re writing! 

To make a Google Docs Table of Contents like mine, there are just 4 steps. Watch the video for a full walkthrough, or read on below to create your own.

1. Create a Blank Table of Contents Page with the Chapter Titles Listed

Open up a brand new document. On the top, write out the title of your project (or a working title - just call it something you can easily remember). Underneath that, write out “Table of Contents.” 

You can style these however you like with fonts & colors. Personally I like to keep things plain and simple, but if you’re feeling fancy, change the font if you want!  

The last part of this first step is to type out the chapter or section titles, each on their own line. If you have working titles, you can use those. If you want to use plain numbers, that’s fine, too. The goal is to be able to easily recognize the section of writing, click on it, and have it take you to that section of writing. 

When you’re starting a brand new project, and thus a brand new document, I recommend just putting in a few filler titles like “Chapter 1” and “Chapter 2” or “Section 1” and “Section 2.” 

The beauty of this system, aside from flexibility, is that you can easily add to your ToC as you write rather than committing to a specific number of sections or chapters. So if this is brand new, add a few fillers for now to get yourself set up and familiar with how it works. 

2. Type out Titles/Text for Chapters in the Body of the Document

Once you have your Table of Contents page typed and ready to go, you can begin to add body text to the document. 

If this is a new document: Copy and paste the titles from the first page. The titles on the Table of Contents page should match the titles that are in your document, that way when you set up your links, it’s very easy for you to tell which section you just landed on. Since you don’t have any writing yet, you can leave them single spaced or put a space in between each title. Personally, I like an extra space because then I can just click it and type there immediately. 

If you have a Work in Progress: If you already have writing that you’re trying to whip into shape (good for you!), go through and give each section or chapter a title. Whether the name is permanent or not doesn’t matter. The goal, again, is to be able to easily locate each specific section of writing, so name it something you’ll be able to easily remember what happens in that section. 

3. Add a Bookmark to the Title of Each Chapter

So far, you have your Table of Contents page, with chapter/section titles, and your titles in the text of the document. The next step is to make a bookmark for each of the titles in the text of the Google Doc. 

The process is simple: highlight the text of one chapter/section title, click “Insert” in the top left corner of the menu, and select the “Bookmark” option. That’s it! Create separate bookmarks for each of your titles. DO NOT do anything with the Table of Contents page yet, just add your bookmarks to the text in the body of your document. 

4. On the Table of Contents Page, Add a Link to each Chapter Title for the Corresponding Bookmark

Once you’ve added your bookmarks to the text of your Google Doc, you get to do the fun part: link them to the Table of Contents! 

All you have to do to link to your brand new bookmarks is: Go to the ToC page, highlight the first chapter/section title (like you did when you were creating your bookmarks), and select “Insert” in the top left corner of the menu. Choose the “Link” option. From there, you have 2 choices: you can search for the name of the bookmark (remember, it should match what you see on your ToC for easy reference) OR you can choose the “In this document” option at the bottom of the pop up. 

If you search for the name, simply click it when it appears and you’re done! Your link will appear. If you open “In this document” it will present a list of bookmarks for you to choose from. Click the right one and it will appear as a link. 

So that’s it! Just 4 simple steps that will probably take you less than 10 minutes to make your project much more organized and easy to work with moving forward. 

My challenge to you is to create your very own table of contents. 

Did you set up your Google Docs Table of Contents? How did it go? 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 - and organized - writing.

5 Pieces to Include in Your Writing Notebook

Depending on your writing process, you may have a place where you keep the notes related to your books and other writing projects. 

But if you’re a new writer, or if you’re just starting to get serious about writing, you might have heard the term “writing notebook” and wondered what the heck that is. 

Good news! 

Today’s post is all about great pieces to include in your writing notebook, with simple steps about how to include them. 

What is a Writing Notebook? 

A writing notebook is simply a place to keep all of our ideas, plans, and goals for our writing projects. It can be in a binder, journal, digital format, or any other preferred format. 

The main point of a writing notebook is to keep ourselves organized while writing and to help expand upon our ideas.

The main point of a writing notebook is to keep ourselves organized while writing and to help expand upon our ideas. They can include a multitude of helpful tools and pages depending on the writing project. Here are some ideas for great pieces to include in your writing notebook.

5 Pieces to Include in Your Writing Notebook

When you’re setting up your writing notebook, these are great items to include.

General Plot Outline

A general plot outline is an overview of what will be included in your book or story. It answers the question: What are the main goals of our writing project?

A plot outline should include ideas for:

• Major events (Sometimes major events may not be large battles or huge crises. They can be smaller, internal or external, conflicts that directly impact our main character.)

• Turning points for our characters

• Setting (when & where our story takes place)

• Themes

• Lists of characters/name ideas

• Any information we already know we want to include

It’s also important to have an idea of what the beginning, middle, and end of the story will look like. This helps to keep us on track and ensure we don’t stray too far from the main purpose of our story. 

It’s okay to change our mind along the way. Sometimes we need to switch up the ending, or go back and rewrite the beginning. As long as we know what direction we’re headed, we will be in much better shape when it comes to writing our stories. 

Main Character Page/Character Profile

The main character page is dedicated to the protagonist/main character (MC) of your story. Once we decide on our main character’s traits, it’s important to stay consistent throughout the entire story. A great way to keep track of this is to create a character profile for our main characters.

A character profile should include the MC’s:

• Physical traits

• Strengths 

• Weaknesses

• Motivations

• Obstacles

• Anything that will come up multiples times in the story

• Description of the antagonist or “enemy” and the reason they’re at odds - if the MC has a notable foe

We can also include important relationships on the main character page, for instance: 

• Their parents’ names

• Significant other

• Best friend etc. 

Essentially, this page (or few pages) is meant to give you a space to include all important details about your MC so you can reference it when you need to. Creating this page will also give you valuable insight into your character and their unique qualities. 

Character Chart

A character chart is helpful to keep track of side characters. 

Important information to include on the chart is: 

• Each character’s relationship to the main character

• Physical traits

• Why they are necessary to the plot. 

Having a visual like this will help ensure we don’t have characters that aren’t adding anything to our stories. 

Character charts are also useful when we have many characters because we can go back to it and remind ourselves of who each person is. When we take a break from writing and come back, it’s easy to forget names (especially if you’ve recently changed them) and descriptions. Having the character chart makes our writing lives easier.

Book Timeline/Character Timelines

Creating timelines help us to keep perspective while we’re writing our story. A book timeline ensures that we’re staying on track and each event makes sense as it’s happening. It also serves as a reminder, as we’re writing, of what’s going on in our stories if we need to take a break.

Character timelines are useful to keep track of divergent character lines. 

For example, we can create:  

• A main character timeline 

• A villain timeline 

This ensures their actions line up with each other; a cause and effect type of relationship. Character timelines also help us see if there are any holes in the character’s life that need to be filled.

Goals Page

A goals page helps to keep us on schedule. If we don’t set goals, we may never finish the project! 

There are multiple formats we can use to create our goals page: 

• Time-Related Goals: Goals we plan to finish by a specific date. For example, a timely goal might be “I have written (#) chapters so far, I intend to write two more by (date). Then, I will write (#) chapters every (#) days.”

• Word Count Goals: Goals for how many words we want to write during each writing session. Word count goals can be something we do every time we write, or more sporadically - for instance once a week or once a month. For example, “This week I will write (#) words a day,” or “This week I will write a total of (#) words.” 

Creating a chart for these goals, or using a planner (or both!) is very useful. We can make a table for ourselves in our writing notebook, or create an Excel sheet for our goals. Whatever format best suits our needs. 

Interested in downloading some writing notebook sheets? Check out this writer’s bundle available on our Etsy Shop: The Confident Writer Shop!

My challenge to you is to try creating a writing notebook. 

Do you already use a writing notebook? What will you include in your writing notebook? Do you set writing goals for yourself? 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.

How to Use a Planner to Make Time for Writing

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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

1. 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. 

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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!).

7. 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! 

8. 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. 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?

1. 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. 

2. 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. 

3. 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.

4. 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.