That Just Happened

Sometimes

Sometimes you sit down to write and nothing comes to you. Other times you sit down to write and suddenly you've written twice as much as you intended. This is one of those times.

Setting a schedule

At the moment I am actively working on three feature length scripts. The one for this blog and two for other projects I'm involved with. They're in three different stages of the process. One is in the early outlining stages. This one is in the first draft stage. The other is on the third draft. It's actually pretty hard to keep up with them. Oh, and there are two more that are in the almost ready to outline stage. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to give any one of them much attention. The only way I can keep up with them is to have an achievable schedule to follow.

Works for me

I’ve read about dozens of different ways to set up a writing schedule. Some writers will write at night after their families have gone to bed. Other writers get up before the family and have a couple hours in the morning to write. Some writers will spend the week making notes then take a day to sit down and write it all. Others will plan on writing a certain number of pages each day. Then others will do something else. A few writers will do that other method. And every writer has their own method. This is how I set my writing schedule.

Everything in its place

I alternate writing days.
I rarely work on two different scripts on the same day. I’ll make notes and contemplate all the scripts in a day but I try not to work in earnest on more than one on any given day.

I set a page number goal.
Usually my goal is one page per day. This allows me to skip a day every now and then and know that I just have to write two pages to catch up. It’s very low pressure. With this many scripts on my plate this page count isn’t that reasonable if I want to finish any of them this decade. Currently I’m working with a four pages per day goal. It’s still not huge, and missing a day doesn’t feel like I’ve fallen that far behind.

I track my progress.
It’s important to stay motivated. Tracking progress is a great way to stay positive and motivated. My scripts average 120 pages. If I work on the script twice a week that’s 8 pages per week. That’s 34 pages per month. At that pace I should have the script done in about four months. That’s not bad. I can live with that pace. And it’s a pace that allows me to attend to my other responsibilities.

Mileage may vary

You might feel more comfortable setting a higher page count per day. You might want to have a goal of one page per week. It depends entirely on what you want to accomplish and how quickly you want to accomplish it. No matter what goals you want to set, having a plan is important.