Organisation and Planning for Writers

Organisation and planning is often just as important as talent when it comes to achieving all that you are capable of achieving as a writer. Not only do you need to plan each writing project that you choose to take on, you also need to organise your time effectively so that you can produce the work required to a given – or self-imposed – deadline.

There are as many approaches to planning and organisation as there are writers, so in this post we will look at a variety of tools which can be used right across the board. Whether you thrive on the specificity and precision of Getting Things Done, prefer to put First Things First, or are someone who just likes to plan things out in a Bullet Journal, at least one of the following should prove useful…

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Erasable Wall Planner

One of the most effective ways of scheduling projects for the year ahead is to mark them up on a wall planner so that you can see the coming twelve months at a glance. This allows you to mark holidays and other planned absences from your work, and to fit projects around them. It also helps to ensure that you use your available time effectively without trying to do too many things at once. An erasable wall planner is ideal for this purpose, as it allows you to make amendments as and when required without causing an unsightly mess.

Wall Mounted Whiteboard

Another way of turning wall space into useful organisation and planning space is to install an erasable whiteboard in your office. This can be used for a wide variety of purposes, from planning the structure of an article or book, keeping lists of blog post ideas or even keeping track of important To Do items. Because the wall mounted whiteboard is meant to remain in situ for the long term, it is a good idea to choose the best you can afford, and one which is large enough to accommodate your needs not just this year, but in the years to come.

Bullet Journal

Those of you who like to plan your days, weeks, months, plot beats and word counts using good old-fashioned pen and paper, but who don’t fancy having to maintain a separate diary, journal, planner and so on, could consider using a Bullet Journal to keep track of everything in the same place. The advantage of a Bullet Journal is that you can use whatever type of notebook happens to be your favourite, but if you’d like something specifically designed for the purpose, you can buy those too, saving you precious time when setting things up.

Index Card Box File

Writers who organise themselves using index cards can often find it difficult to keep track of them properly, especially when they have more than one or two hundred. A good solution to this problem is to invest in a purpose-made index card box file which will allow you to sort the cards in whatever order makes sense and store them away neatly, but still have them available for quick and easy reference. There are quite a few different styles and sizes to choose from, so if you use index cards on a regular basis, they may well be worth exploring.

Get Equipped and Start Planning Today!

Whether you are a novelist, a non-fiction author, a journalist or a blogger, getting organised and planning ahead can seriously improve your productivity and, as a result, your bank balance. Consider using the tools discussed here to help you in that task, and happy planning!