You Haven't Failed: What to Do When Your Writing Plan Falls Apart

First off, Happy International Talk Like A Pirate Day! 🏴‍☠️ I promise I will not be posting on every random holiday. It just so happens that September 19 is, in fact, International Talk Like A Pirate Day and there is no way I can let that slide on by without acknowledging it. (I did write a book about a pirate after all.) Just be thankful I didn’t ask the pirate ipsum site to generate all the content herein. Please enjoy this post with a cup of grog*, ya scurvy scalliwags! (Recipe below.)

Now let’s get serious(ish)...

One of the things that plagues most of us at some time or another is that we’re afraid we’re not sticking to the plan or meeting expectations. Every one of my clients has at some point apologized to me for not getting ‘enough’ done, not meeting a deadline, or for taking a break when they need it.

Friends! No apology necessary. Not to me, not to yourselves. You have not failed. You are not a failure. Nor is your book.

Writing a good book takes as long as it takes. You're on nobody's schedule but your own.

But even that schedule is flexible. It must be. Life happens.

I used to tell my PM clients that if a project schedule ever runs from start to finish without a single adjustment, I would retire. It never happened and honestly, I didn’t expect that it ever would. (I will, however, most definitely retire some day. 😉) If everything ran like clockwork, my PM skills wouldn’t be needed. And they most definitely are.

Things take more or less time than we think. People get sick or need mental health days. (Huge fan of mental health days over here.) Feedback doesn’t come when expected. The way to finish that scene is eluding you, despite your best efforts.

So what to do when life throws us these curveballs?

⚾ Acknowledge whatever you’re feeling as legit. Be frustrated. Yell (but please, not AT someone). One of my silly/strange favorite decompression strategies? Taking some bottles to the recycling center. There is something about the sound of breaking glass that I find cathartic.

⚾ Acknowledge where you are and that it’s ok to be there. I had plans to be done with my revision by a certain date. That date moved. Confirming, to ourselves or someone else, what the state of affairs is takes some of the power out of it. There’s no value or judgment behind it—it just IS.

⚾ Adjust the plan, thoughtfully. Don’t just put pressure on yourself to work double the amount of time to make your original deadline or throw up your hands and think that you can’t stick to a plan, so why bother. Look at your calendar and consider your upcoming commitments. Maybe there is a day that you can clear the decks and put your head down? Great! But maybe there’s travel and lots of running around coming up. Scale back what you expect yourself to accomplish. You’ll be much happier on the other end if you plan and finish a little bit than to give up on Day 4 because you didn’t get 1500 words written every day.

And when more shit happens, because shit does happen? Rinse, repeat.

This is bringing order to chaos. This is how shit gets done.

If the plan keeps falling apart in the same place, the problem might not be your schedule. It might be the draft. If you can't quite see why it isn't working yet, that's what I do. Here's how we can work together. Not sure which fits? Fill out the Contact form and we'll set up a free 30-minute call to figure out the next step.

Arrrrwright! (Sorry, couldn’t resist! Booooo, me.)

*Grog recipe

1 oz. lime juice

2 tbsp. brown sugar or 1 oz. simple syrup

2 oz. dark rum

2 oz. water

In a shaker, combine the brown sugar with 1 oz. water and 1 oz. lime juice. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add rum, remaining water, and a healthy amount of ice. Shake. Pour. Serve. Talk like a pirate until grog is consumed.