A Daily Write Plan So You Can Write During Your Busy Life

“Slow down.” “Just Breathe.” “It’s okay! There’s plenty of time.” 

Those were some phrases moms and dads shouted to the kids on the field. It was during our grandson’s soccer game Sunday afternoon. It was a big game as it was the last of their season. His team had come a long way. From a young team of everyone for themselves and no teamwork to a group of kids on the field in a cohesive unit playing for the team. They didn’t have to win the game to qualify for the season playoffs. Unfortunately, they didn’t win. But, parents reminded their kids after the game to think about the overall scheme. They were playing as one. The goalie (our grandson) had blocked several shots. The team together kept them at bay until that final shot 5 minutes before the game ended. The one that took my grandson down and he bonked the back of his head. He’s fine, except for his bruised ego. He felt he let his team down. But, again, the team rallied around him to console him. Believe me, 8 weeks ago, that didn’t happen. The boys had learned teamwork. 

Just breathe…

I have to remind myself of that a lot these days. There’s stuff going on in life that I, much to my chagrin, can’t control. Not that I’m a control freak. But, we do like life to be a bed of roses, right? I know I do! 

As my writing life and “living life” mesh, merge, and bump heads, I sat down during the last week of the quarter to evaluate what was working for me. I’ve followed lots of different writing life plans through the years. There were days I could sit all day and write without a care in the world. Then more recently when I was sick with Covid, followed by my dad in the hospital the writing life was a bit bumpy. Yet, I still managed to do some writing and creating. 

I’m going to share with you what I’m calling “Your Write Plan.” Is this the perfect plan that will catapult you to the Best Seller list? Who knows? I’m never going to give any writer any plan or roadmap and promise things such as that. 

But, will this plan give you peace of mind that you’re making incremental steps forward in your writing life? You bet…

Are you ready?

Bucket 1: Pour Into Yourself

1. Pour in your Cares. Put all your cares, concerns, worries, and fears into God’s hands. These are all of them. Things related to your writing life and those things in your life. I recently had to remind myself of this when pondering and worrying over decisions by a family member. At least I didn’t worry for weeks. I stopped myself on Day 1. I start my day by giving it all over to Him. You would think that giving it to him once would do it. But, I’m such a stubborn child, sometimes I take them back. Don’t we all? 
2. Pour in Your Gratitude. I can’t say enough about having gratitude. My husband and I have started saying our dinner grace by just listing gratitudes. Sometimes I stray from writing my gratitude list. But, I started it again, and it’s helped my spirit so much. 
3. Pour in Self-Care. I’m a little child when it comes to self-care. I didn’t start taking any time for myself until I retired from the corporate world in 2014. I had burned the candle at both ends until I just about fizzled out. I’m so glad I’ve surrounded myself with mentors who remind me to take care of myself. I even have a friend and mentor who approaches the business side of things that way, reminding me to take moments of rest more often than I think I need them.

Bucket 2: Create Connections

1. Create connections with fellow authors. I try to reach out to a fellow author once a day. Perhaps it’s a greeting or an inquiry on how a project is going, but it’s something. It’s too easy to become a lone island behind the keyboard. Even I, an introvert, have found that making connections has helped me to move my writing forward. You never know which writing friend will ask you how a project was going — and I sure like to at least have made some progress. It’s like a built-in accountability partner. I call this my horizontal direction arrow.
2. Create connections with mentors. This is an upward-direction arrow. These are not connections meant to be collaborations, although they may turn out to be. But, I’m a huge proponent that writers are always learners. I think it’s important to comment on a blog post or a social media post if a mentor wrote something that resonates with you. 
3. Connect with your peeps. This is a circular arrow, as it’s always ongoing. This is also a great place for me to get on my soapbox. Remember this writer — when you post things on social media, potential readers may see them. Make sure your social media presence reflects the type of author you want them to know you as. In other words, social media isn’t the place to iron out our dirty laundry with family members. I could go on, but I’ll stop. Also, a connection doesn’t have to be only via social media. It could be an email to your list and responding to someone’s reply back to you. It may be a live book reading, talking IN PERSON, and getting to know your readers.

Bucket 3: Steward Your Time

1. Work on your designated project for the chosen time. Maybe you don’t write daily, or maybe you do. Maybe it’s working on marketing your book or building your platform. I urge you to put the time on your calendar just as important as you do medical appointments. Give yourself that gift of committing to your writing. Give your potential reader the gift of writing the words God’s given you.
2. Track your progress. Be truthful with yourself. I laughed when watching a movie a while back and someone asked the author about a book they were writing. They had been writing it for 10 years. Hey, I’m not one to point fingers, as I have a book like that. But, in the movie, they hadn’t acknowledged they had been working on it that long because they had lost track of time. If you’re tracking and evaluating yourself, you’ll know things like that. I have another author friend who strategically, tracks her writing. She also watches her monthly sales and any marketing she’s done. She’s able to tell you exactly what caused an uptick in her sales, or what didn’t work.
3. Learn something new. Don’t take this too far though. You can get caught in the ruts of always learning and researching and never move forward. But, I think the writers that advance their journey forward are the ones who are always seeking to learn more. I have a mentor that instilled in me to read 10 pages from a book every day to help me learn a new skill. When it comes to authoring, you have much to learn. Not only the writing skills, but things about publishing, marketing, emails, and researching your next topic. Learning is a wide-open field.

Now, here’s the bottom line. My Write Plan may not be your plan. But, I encourage you to define yours. Then, write it someplace where you’ll see it every day. It will help to keep you on track!