Back in the 80s, Mary Tyler Moore and Robert Preston starred in an HBO rom-com that has mostly faded into history. In it the main character – a writer named Mike Finnegan – has to begin again. He’s assigned to write the advice column for his newspaper (remember them?) and learns that people have to begin again and again and again. What worked before stops working. Our lives change in unpredictable ways that force us to plot new paths to happiness and fulfillment.
This truth hammers every writer who stays at it for any significant length of time. The tools and techniques that used to work stop working. The things you used to do, don’t yield the same results. Sometimes they don’t yield any results – unless you count frustration and anxiety. You’ll be writing along, words falling like the rain in springtime, and suddenly you’re in a desert. Nothing you do works any more.
Finnegan, begin again. It’s true for me. It’s true for almost every writer I’ve met. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, buckle up. Nobody thinks it will happen to them. Then it does.
Sound familiar?
While some of us are a quarter of the way through NaNoWriMo, it’s also time to start thinking about next year. What will you do? How will you do it? What new tools and techniques might you consider for when you’re caught by Finnegan? Here are some that I’ve added to my tool box over the years.
Forty-Sentence Outline
I’m a pantser discovery writer. Generally I have to write from the beginning to the end because I have no idea how the story will go until I see the characters in the story, doing the things, and following up with the consequences in each scene and chapter.
To my chagrin, that doesn’t always work.
A few years ago I discovered the Forty-Sentence Outline at the Smarter Artists Summit. The concept is easy. Split the second act into two so you have four units. Each unit gets ten sentences to outline what has to happen in each section. It breaks nicely at the midpoint and when you write 2500 words for each sentence, you’re at a nice round 100,000 words. The SAS people used a brainstorming session to noodle what the story might be and then translated that brainstorm into forty (plus or minus) sentences. Layer in some beats and you’ve got a nice outline. I lack the brainstorm team so use a free write session to just throw ideas at the page and see what comes out of it after a couple of hours of playing in the setting with the various characters.
Add it to your snowflakes and/or Save The Cats in the toolbox. Never know when it might help with that story that won’t come together. It doesn’t always work but when it does, it feels magical.
Speaking of magical …
4TheWords
I’m a gamer. I love games of all kinds. I don’t play many but the ones that keep me playing are the role-playing games where the characters level up, gaining new skills, and facing new challenges as they progress through the story.
A few weeks ago, some people in my writing group started talking about this writing game – 4TheWords. It gamifies the process of writing. You slay monsters by writing enough words within the time limits. They’re all whimsical. They’re even a little silly. When I first saw this “game” in 2017, I thought “Oh, I’m a serious writer. These time limits are dumb. These monsters are silly. There’s no way I can do this.”
Yeah. Right. Fast forward and I’m finding that getting my butt in the chair to chase words through my fingers is not as fluid as I would like. I can find a thousand things I’d rather do.
So when they started talking about 5k mornings and slaying their 10 monsters for the day – and having a ball doing it – I perked up. Yeah. It’s silly. Yeah. It’s whimsical.
And yeah, I’ve got a 16 day streak going with 18k behind me just from piddling about with a few monsters. That’s peanuts in terms of what I’m capable of but it’s head and shoulders over what I’ve been doing while wrestling a WIP into final shape.
I’ll still sprint, but – at least for now – I’m using 4TheWords 4TheWin. (https://4thewords.com – my referral code is MIXZI00906, if you’re so inclined. Yes, I’ll benefit if you use it. Don’t feel obligated.)
Caveats:
1. It’s not free. You get a 30 day free trial and you can earn extensions to that time but the cost is $1 a week. Dude. If I can pay $1 a week and get an extra 10k words out of it, I’m paying that buck every week. #justsayin.
2. It’s web-based. You write in a browser window. For some people, that’s a show stopper.
Planner
I use a variety of methods to keep myself on track through the year.
I have a year-at-a-glance on the wall next to my project board. I have color coded markings that tell me how I’m doing as the year progresses. I dropped that ball this year and I’m kicking myself for it. It’s time I got back on that horse because my ADHD needs reminding that “routine” is not “rut” and I’m happier when I can see that I am actually doing stuff.
I’ve used a bullet journal for the last couple of years. I track my daily efforts in that but it’s hard to plan in it since I’m working on a fresh page every day. It’s working. Kinda.
This year, I’m going to try Corinne O’Flynn’s Publishing Planner. It’s been on my radar for a while but this year – looking back at the miserable performance I’ve had so far and wanting to try something new – I took the plunge and ordered one for the 2020-2021 season.
Holy Organizers, Batman. This thing is a monster – and I mean that in the best way possible. It’s got way more stuff than I intend to use, but also all the stuff I need and can use all in one spiral bound tome. The only downside of this beast is that I need to clear room on my desk for it. Every month starts with a month-at-glance along with planning reminders for the things I want to get done that month, then gives me a week at a glance summary to track progress as well as a place to set goals and celebrate achievements. At the end of each quarter, there’s room for quarterly review as well as goals for the next.
Seriously, it’s intimidating but also sets the table for eating the elephants I want to dine on for the coming year.
Find it at http://authorproductivity.com and thank you, Corinne O’Flynn.
So, what about you? Looking back over the year, how did you do? Did you have goals? Did you reach them? Are you happy with the tools in your toolbox or are you looking around for a bigger hammer? Do you have a problem that you just can’t seem to find a solution for?
Tell us about it in the comments.
Break’s over. Check your word counts. You need 13,336 by end of day today (11/8/19) if you’re going to stay on track.
I just got my Publishing Planner. You’re right, it’s massive! I had to ask the author a couple of questions about the Week at a Glance page, and she replied to my emails quickly. It looks like a great way to get organized… and stay that way!
That’s my hope, too, Kurt.
I’m still a little intimidated by it but I’m slowly laying in plans for the winter — like a squirrel with acorns, hoping they’ll be there when I need them. 😀
Thank you for the good words on the planner, Nathan! Happy wording!! I look forward to your feedback after you’ve been using it for a few months to see what works for you and if there is anything you would change. xoxo
I’m still intimidated by it and don’t know where to start … but I’m wading in. 😀
I love this planner. It is all the things – but it keeps me organized because I don’t have to look anywhere else. Keeping everything in one place is key for me to keep using it. I particularly love the series planning, because that’s something that falls off my radar. This lets me see all my series in one place
I started bullet journaling this year. I like it so far. But it’s not habit yet so I’m still working through that aspect.
The 4thewords review is interesting. I’m going to look at it again
Thanks for the frank discussion. I’m not at my word count goal yet, although I’ve hit publishing goal. But there’s still time!
Update on 4thewords:
Total words written 83,663 words
Longest Streak 29 days
It shouldn’t work as well as it does, but I’m not going to complain.
Gamification works when its implemented well and this looks like a decent implementation.