I had planned to have a productive writing month. I actually set a huge word count goal, but found that I was had trouble writing it. Instead, I was doing a lot of planning. I’ve always been more of a pantser (“fly by the seat of your pants’ type of writer), but over the years I’ve noticed that some type of planning would be helpful.
The thing for me is that I have to find the right balance of planning just enough, but not planning too much. There have been times that I’ve planned too much for a story and discovered that I need some level of excitement and mystery when I write a draft. If I have too much planned out, I lose interest in writing the story. I have a few story ideas that I’ve thrown out my notes on and am waiting until I lose track of some of the details.
In the past I’ve found Susan Dennard’s thoughts on writing and planning to be helpful (second topic on the page) and I had adapted her system into one of my own and that’s what I’ve gone back to this month. So I haven’t put a lot of words on the page, but I’ve been working through some of the details that I think would have presented issues if I didn’t work through them. And that’s still progress.
Here are a few chats about creativity that I found recently and appreciated:
>> Claire Marshall on creativity. The entire interview is good, but I really appreciated what she had to say around the 5 – 6 minute mark. It’s something I’ve been more intentional about this year. (And I also just added a bunch of older movies to my Netflix queue. Time to start watching them! :))
>> This post on the Carve Out Time for Art Insta. I especially loved the last sentence of the first paragraph in the caption.
Also, if you’re interested in reading more about what to do in the Twin Cities, I wrote a post all about it over on The Siberian American. Olya just had surgery and was looking for posts that she could put up during her recovery, so head on over to say hi and send some well wishes to Olya!
What’s been on your mind this month?
[Tweet “Thoughts on July: a writing update and 2 creative inspiration links.”]
I’ve just been finishing up this semester at school š
That must feel good! I hope it ended well. š
These are really timely for me! I needed these videos. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome! I’m glad they came at a time when you needed them. š
Thanks for the links, those are great!
You’re welcome! I loved them. š
I love your “pantser” description; fits me to a t, too. I have a hard time finding that balance myself, so am always open to advice. Thanks so much for sharing these links, and hope you have a lovely weekend ahead of you!
It’s always nice to hear that someone else feels the same way about planning and “pantsing.” š I hope you found the links helpful and that you had a wonderful weekend too!
Thank you for sharing! I thought this was going to be a big writing month too, but I was wrong.
You’re welcome! Thank you for reading. š Sometimes creative plans just don’t pan out the way we hope.
Just stumbled upon your blog, and I love your writing! Thanks for sharing the links as well — always looking for a good and relevant read on creativity/inspiration.
MaryClaire || Mainly MCĀ
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I hope the links are helpful!