Writers Plan Around Life Events

Do you plan your writing year? Do you plan a month or a season ahead? How do you deal with stressful periods of life?

I view my writing as my work, something I am privileged to do every day. I do try to plan ahead and make sure I’m accomplishing something. I set goals: this year, I’ll write a new MG novel. In the next month, I plan to block out the plot of that novel and the month after, I’ll write the first three chapter of the novel. Things like that.

But I also find that life has a way of interfering. Novels are emotional stories and I need some modicum of stability in order to do this.

Beyond the issue of deadlines, what I’m passionate about at the time, etc. it seems there are two types of writing times.

Stable and Quiet. This is when I work like mad on a novel, trying to get as much written as I can. Novels seem to need longer stretches of time and they need emotional involvement.

Busy with Events, Stress, Upheaval. This is when I work on speeches, websites, writing lessons, publicity materials, magazine articles — things that don’t take my undivided attention and full emotional strength. Sometimes, picture books can work in here, especially when there’s a day or a couple of calm days in the midst of a busy month.

Do you plan out your whole year? How do you deal with the stressful periods?

It's Here.

Last night we had the next session of Fearless Writing, led by Crescent Dragonwagon. CD focuses on the writing process and creativity.

If you Show Up, the Work Will Flow

CD talks about necessary percepts or perceptions, ways of thinking about our work. Not precepts, but percepts. One is that if you consistently show up, the work will flow.

We started by doing a timed, fifteen-minute free write on any topic you wanted. After that, working as a group, we made lists:

• List of 5-6 fears
• List of 7-8 places humans could shelter (cave, bed, tent, etc.)
• Looking back at our free write, we were asked to circle five verbs.
• Then we contributed verbs to a list of about 10-12 from the group.
• Looking at our free write, we circled nouns and contributed to the group list of 10-12 nouns.
• Looking at our free write, we circled descriptive words and contributed to the group list of 10-12 nouns.
• Finally, we were asked to give a number between 1-100 and the name of a tree; then the name of a former President. These gave us addresses of 88 Oak Street and 8 Roosevelt Rd.

The result looked like a hodge-podge of random words, with different vocabulary levels and different topics. After all, they came from the text of a dozen different writers, writing about a huge variety of topics.

Finally, we were asked to pick out one of the feelings and write it in the top right-hand corner of the page; then fold down that corner so no one could see it. We chose an address and a shelter, both part of a title: The Tent at 88 Oak Street. Then, in a fifteen-minute timed write, we were supposed to write something that incorporated all the other words. ALL of them.

The results were amazing. The flow came for most people and somehow, out of the chaos, story lines appeared. Nothing perfect, of course, but enough to demonstrate that Stories Want to be Told, and that Flow Will Come if You Show Up.

One more session tonight for our final percepts.

It's Here.