A perfect cappuccino has an equal proportion of espresso, milk and foam. Some American coffee shops don’t understand the importance of this ratio and they serve cappuccino in larger sizes. Once you add more milk, it’s no longer a cappuccino. It’s a latte. Not. The. Same.
Our creative work can get out of proportion, too. Some of us love to plan and we can spend too much time (over)thinking our project. We outline, we flesh out the outline, we research. We think we can ‘think’ our way to the writing. Our big, beautiful minds trick us into thinking that the writing is happening in the planning.
The problem with over-planning: it can rob the joy of our writing and when we go to draft the book or the blog post, we have lost interest. We’ve spent all our creative energy in the planning phase and feel done with it. Writing becomes a real drag and we resist it and procrastinate and end up miserable.
On the flip side, sometimes we don’t plan enough. We sit down to write and….nothing. We haven’t thought through our idea enough, so we’re faced with the blank page and its attendant insecurities and fears. We may get out a few meandering lines, but we quickly forget what inspired us to write in the first place.
Like the cappuccino, it’s all about proportion. I love planning and I love flowing. In my 22 years of writing, I have figured out the perfect blend so that I can get my books, proposals and articles done with a sense of focus and ease.
What about you? Do you feel a good blend of planning and flow? If so, hooray! If not, read on for a few suggestions on how to perfect the plan/flow balance.
Plan
You can plan along any number of structures. Types of writing and deadlines are two common ways we plan.
Types of writing could include:
- blog posts
- newsletter articles
- book chapters
- short stories
- poems
Deadlines could include:
- your publishing schedule
- a challenge series (writing daily for 30 days)
When I plan my newsletter articles (which also serve as blog posts), here’s how I plan:
I know when I need to send out my newsletters. By using the calendar to lay out several months’ worth of articles, I am able to see how the pieces I write align with the season and with what I want to share with you.
Having these rough ideas planned out gives me a sense of ease and trust. I know what I want to write, I know when I need to write it, and I feel a sense of focus.
Does your current planning model work for you? Do you plan your writing by deadline, by subject or type of writing?
Flow
Once the planning is done, it’s time to actually get the writing down.
When I have my ideas in a list, the seeds are germinating. The initial idea is there, and in the back of my mind, I massage the seed. I think about specific stories I can tell to illustrate my point. I look for usefulness, to make sure the ideas are relevant to you. I dig deep to make sure the pieces are meaningful to me.
I call this time ‘off keyboard time’. We’re gently considering what we will write when we’re away from the keyboard.
It’s very organic and as you have probably experienced, doesn’t require much focused thought.
Then comes the real flow.
I use the free-writing method to get into the flow of writing my ideas down. I set a timer for 15 minutes, grab one of my ideas as a prompt, and let rip.
You’ve heard me talk about free-writing before, but to remind you, at this point, it’s about getting your words out on the page. No worries about orderliness, correctness or even if the writing is good.
If you do this consistently, say, every day, you will have accrued a good amount of writing. You will have mastered your perfect blend of planning and flowing.
And that feels as good as the perfect cappuccino with the right blend of milk and coffee. I think I’ll go have one right now….
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