tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post7260712304791638315..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Guest Post: Lee McAulay - Where Will You Be in Ten Year's Time?Katherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-13483057767302375572012-01-31T21:56:23.248+00:002012-01-31T21:56:23.248+00:00Thanks for the comments, folks!
I know that some o...Thanks for the comments, folks!<br />I know that some of us find the restrictions of a day job make it easier to stick to a plan - for example, I write during my lunch break, so I know I have to make a lunch I can eat with one hand (sandwich and/or fruit) so I can write with the other.<br />madwippitt - the allotment is history, I'm afraid, as it took too much time away from writing, or the other things which are displaced by writing (e.g. sleep/friends/food!). "To fit everything in" means re-defining "everything". I don't watch TV and don't go down the pub as often as I did ten years ago, for example.<br />And I'm fortunate that I have a very understanding and supportive partner. Both of us are affected by my writing. I hope that in future we both benefit, but that's out of my control. Only the wordcount-on-paper is mine to influence, and planning is part of that.<br />BTW, am I the only person who thinks "Crikey, that's a month of 2012 gone already <i>and I have so much more to write</i>?"Lee McAulayhttp://leemcaulay.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-29473064257366251962012-01-31T13:02:41.387+00:002012-01-31T13:02:41.387+00:00Very impressive - I'm afraid my ten year plan ...Very impressive - I'm afraid my ten year plan is just to stay alive and solvent (one does need to eat) long enough to write all the stuff whirling round in my head!!Kathleen Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07645566938871914385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-21661104459568093862012-01-30T12:03:22.687+00:002012-01-30T12:03:22.687+00:00Wow, I'm impressed! My 'proper' job al...Wow, I'm impressed! My 'proper' job allows me very flexible hours and I often wonder how normal people with fixed regular hours manage to fit everything in, let alone produce books as well. And an allotment is really time consuming!madwippitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02595748471651052552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-1107260660098244002012-01-30T12:03:15.564+00:002012-01-30T12:03:15.564+00:00Yes, I do a five year plan too, but it's very ...Yes, I do a five year plan too, but it's very flexible and I split it into three groups, what I'd like to achieve personally, what I'd like to achieve professionally and things I'd like to do/see. Even if I only achieve one thing from each group it's probably more than I'd have done without the plan.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11716058361689251073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-43451836799376654872012-01-30T10:43:48.195+00:002012-01-30T10:43:48.195+00:00Ah, yes, Lenin's great bequest to the world, t...Ah, yes, Lenin's great bequest to the world, the five-year-plan. Absolutely I have those, and update them on a regular basis. Two things I'd ad to my enthusiasm for planning:<br /><br />1. I like the balance of this piece - it's very easy to look back and think "if I'd been doing this for x years I'd have achieved y by now" and for that to deflate you, make you think there's no point starting at all - but the flip side is that if you start now, it's amazing how soon you can build up something significant. John Bird, founder of The Big Issue and all-around Good Thing, advocates what he calls the 3% rule - set out to achieve 3% of your overall target, removing the sense of daunting unachievability, and very soon you end up achieving a huge amount.<br /><br />2. Plans need to be flexible. For the first time ever this year I've made it my pan not to have a plan but to "play" - to forget completely about the commercial side of writing and experiment with form and subject and push myself in new directions to see what's out there - rather like Danny Wallace's excellent "yes" project.Dan Hollowayhttp://danholloway.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com