How to build a writing schedule and stay on track with your writing goals

The Importance of a Writing Schedule in Achieving Your Writing Goals

Planning ahead and staying organized is key to achieving any goal, and your writing goals are no exception. Even full-time writers use writing schedules to help them stay on track and be productive and successful, but if you have a job or simply don’t write full-time, a writing schedule is almost mandatory.

How to Keep a Consistent Daily Routine and Plan your Days in Advance

Do you remember the first time you brushed your teeth before bed? No? That is because you started a long time ago and never looked bad. Today you brush your teeth every night and don’t even think about it. That’s routine. And yes, it’s hard to follow a new routine, but here are a few ways to get started.

1. Keep your goals and motivations clear. Write them down and keep them where you can see them. Whenever you feel like letting go, go back to them and remember why you’re doing this.

2. Take small steps. You don’t need to nail your writing schedule from the start, in fact, it’s very likely that it will change as you advance in the writing process. Be flexible and take it easy, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

3. Keep track and be grateful. Keeping track of your progress is a great way to stay motivated and find areas of opportunity. A gratitude journal, notebook, or bulletin board will help you see your evolution and go back to it when you need an extra push.

Take a moment before your week (or month) begins to plan in advance. Make a list of the main events and things you need to do (both personally and professionally) to have a realistic overview of how much time you’ll have available for your writing. Then make a list of things that could potentially stop you from dedicating this time, and come up with solutions to prevent them. This is a very basic guide toward planning and creating habits, but it’s a good place to start.

Setting Weekly Goals For Writing & How To Achieve Them

Breaking large objectives into milestones and smaller goals is a great way to succeed in reaching them. They allow you to measure success - which can be quite subjective - and keep track of what you need to focus on, they are also a great tool when it comes to scheduling tasks.

Goals need to be realistic and attainable, so start off by defining (honestly) how much time you can dedicate to your writing, every day, week, or month. Then, consider what you can genuinely get done during that time. This is different for everyone, some people can do a complete read-through of the script and make important changes in less than an hour, while some people might need a couple of hours to develop one scene.

This should give you a clear idea of what your milestones should be. In order to reach those smaller goals, you need to understand the tasks behind them.

Here’s an example.

Let’s say that one of your writing goals is to “improve character development in your script”

Your first weekly goal could be to improve your main character’s arc. Some tasks you can do are:

1. Create a character’s bio

2. Define his motivations and fears

3. Establish where he is at in the beginning and where he will be at the end of the story.

If you were to work 1 hour a day for that first week, you’ll have an hour and a half for each task.

This is more doable and specific than “improving character development”

Get Into The Writing Mindset

Having the right mindset is crucial for achieving any goal, in any area of your life. Writer’s block, imposter syndrome, and “being too busy”, are all great excuses to quit writing, but as Steve Maraboli says “once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it.”

You are a writer and a creative, and your thoughts should reflect this. Be open to new ideas, express yourself and keep trying. Rejection is a reality and feeling like you’re not good enough is normal (and okay), but if you stay organized and are objective about your achievements, you’ll get there.

Make The Most Out Of Every Day

Use your “downtime” to work on your script. Most of the screenwriting work is done outside the paper/computer, when you’re planning your story, coming up with plots, and inventing your characters. The time you spend commuting, folding laundry, or waiting in lines, can be used to brainstorm and fix specific story issues, the best part? You can schedule these too.

I’m not saying schedule your every thought, but on your writing schedule, you can choose a specific problem to focus on every day, so when you have one of these moments, you can make the most of them. Carrying around a notebook designated for this is your best ally.

Welcome routine. Sticking to a routine might not be for everyone, but it’s a game-changer. Doing things constantly and consistently develops habits (good and bad), if you make your writing a must-do task, this will soon be part of your life, and reaching your goals will always be available to you.

Give yourself space to “fail”. It’s okay if you miss one of your writing sessions or if you don’t reach a milestone when you wanted to, it’s also okay to take a break and move on when things don’t go the way you plan. But don’t be hard on yourself. Start from where you left off and keep going.

Conclusion: 

Staying organized and keeping a realistic writing schedule will help you reach your writing goals, whether you can dedicate a lot or a little time to your writing career. 

By writing consistently and recording your progress you will soon make writing a habit and soon enough, you'll be able to finish or polish your script to make it GREAT.

As always, if you need help getting there, here I am!

Happy writing,

Regine

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