How I Organized My Writing Schedule for 2022
It's a new year, and if you're anything like me, you've got lots of goals for 2022. I'm a big goal-setter (I thrive having new goals to work towards), but I'm not particularly successful at achieving my goals most of the time. Life always seems to get in the way!
If you've been following me here on my blog or on Instagram lately, you probably know I've dedicated this year to my author business and the release of my new fantasy series, the Rising Elements series.
One of my goals this year was to get organized with my business and plan a detailed editorial schedule for my fantasy series.
The first thing I did was watch one of my favorite YouTube authors who is a whiz at planning and organization. Her name is Sarra Cannon, and she recently released a video about planning her 2022 writing schedule. If you like goal-setting and are looking for a great method for this, I highly recommend you check this out!
It's a bit long, but it's worth every second.
After I watched the video, I downloaded her Writing Plan worksheet and followed the steps she outlined in her video. (The instructions to get that download are in the video notes - you have to subscribe to her mailing list, which is 100% worth it!)
By the time I was finished, I had a production calendar that looked something like this:
It looks like a mess, but it totally makes sense to me. That's all that matters, right? :P
Basically, Sarra walks you through how to figure out how to organize your schedule into working days and count backwards to determine how long you need for each project so you can set realistic deadlines. The best part is, she does it in a way that allows for real-life stuff to come up - sickness, weather issues, non-working days - so even if you miss a day or two, it won't throw off your whole schedule.
Once I had determined all my deadlines and added them to my calendar for the entire year, I knew I could publish 3 books this year and a 4th in February of next year, which will complete the Rising Elements series! That's exciting and terrifying to think about.
Now that I know my writing schedule for the year, I can use my time wisely and stay on task during each work session. I've been working on this schedule for 2 weeks now and it has already been a game-changer for my business and productivity! I can't wait to see what it brings for the entire year.
If you're looking for a fun and effective way to organize your writing schedule for the year, I highly recommend you check it out!
Do you have a system for organizing your workload? Please share in the comments below!