There have been several occasions where I’ve written out a schedule for writing, and promptly failed to meet it. I was going about them all wrong: expecting things I cannot personally meet. That’s discouraging, disheartening, and more than anything, I resent a difficult schedule. Then I decided to use something that suits ME! So far, I’ve followed two schedules very well, and I’m working to my current one with great success.
None of my good schedules are terribly ambitious: the first was my own version of a “NaNoWriMo” dealie, where I just demanded that I wrote SOMETHING every single day for a month. That went well enough, because I was equally pleased by a day of ten words as I was by a day of over a thousand. I had met my goal.
The second schedule was a daily page-log, following in the same theme of the first but with a little more personal expectation. I drew it up on a huge sheet of paper, divided into squares like a regular calendar. At the end of each week, I had my minimum goal marked. One page per day (of approximately 250 words per page). That would give me around 1750 words every week. Just before I went to bed each night, I would record how many pages I’d written, then tally it up at the end of the week.
I liked this schedule a lot, because I was handwriting the story in a notebook, and one page was the equivalent of 15 minutes of my time. I had 15 minutes spare every day during the drive to work with my husband. Anything else written outside of that was a bonus.
This variety of scheduling was fantastic as an ego booster, too. After a while, this very simple and outrageously easy-to-meet minimum was really showing progress. Sure, it wasn’t getting amazing results in terms of word count, but every single box on my schedule had something written in it. For weeks. Then months. A whole, huge A3 size sheet of paper, filled with proof of my dedication. Whether it was “1 page”, or “13 pages”, every day had something to show.
I was able to bypass my minimum goal the first week. And in the third, fourth, and fifth weeks. And others. I stayed ahead of my target word count, and at eleven and a half weeks, where I should have been hitting 20,000 words, I was up to 30,000.
My current schedule follows the same rules. A nice, reachable minimum (though higher than the “handwriting in a notebook” minimum expectation, that’s for sure!). Tally at the end of the week. A date I can be expected to finish my story by. I like to know my limits. Over 1000 words every day isn’t something I can expect in my lifestyle. But when you realise that even when handwriting, I can get 250 words out in 15 minutes? That’s easy. That’s doable. That’s a coffee break worth of time.
~A
The Fane 
You know what I use? A large whiteboard that I have hung up in my bedroom so I can see the progress of whatever is my main focus. It feels good to add words every day and see the count go up and up. 🙂
I’ve always thought a whiteboard would be the best solution! But if I got one, then the husband and I would end up using it for plotting our video game design instead. XD
~A
I love the idea of a schedule with checkpoints and ways to check in with myself on progress. Often, though, the problem is I don’t carry through. I love the idea of the whiteboard as a way to plot progress — I may try that!
As long as you have a physical, tangible reminder right in front of you, the medium isn’t the important part! I enjoy drawing the table and writing in the notes by hand. It would be just as appropriate to make one up on the computer and print it out, then you have your happy, filling schedule sitting in front of you! Whiteboards are fun, though. 😀
~A