Planning Vs Process
When I taught high school, I’d have a semester plan, broken down into unit plans, broken down again into daily lesson plans. It helped me stay organized, but every time I finished one plan, I’d be looking ahead to the next. Even the end of the semester wasn’t “the end” because I was planning for the next one, and the cycle would repeat.
The same mentality followed me into writing. I would plan to write a certain number of pages, or edit a certain number of pages. But there was never an end! Even when I finished one manuscript, I wanted to jump into the next one.
The only “end”, I realized, was the final one. You know, with a coffin and tombstone. In other words, I’d be planning, then starting, then finishing, then planning again forever.
Which meant, if I waited until “the end” of the planning to feel good about my progress (i.e.: a finished manuscript or a published novel), I’d never get there. I’d always be striving, never arriving, because there was always the next plan to, well, plan.
Given that writing process is long to begin with, I had to reframe my perspective. I had to stop looking at my plan, and start looking at my progress. Because looking back at everything I had already done vs. looking forward to everything I had yet to do, became much more encouraging. Keep organized, absolutely. Plan ahead. But take a moment to look back at all you’ve accomplished, too.