Your Fall 2025 Writing Plan
Photo by alex geerts on Unsplash
It’s that time of year again – back to school energy, the turning of the seasons into a cooler, crisper fall... and therefore time to think about what I’d like to accomplish, writing-wise.
And also, of course, think about what I accomplished this summer. Thanks to the 100 Day Writing Challenge, I was much more consistent than I usually am in the summer. I also traveled less, which helped. I got back to twice a month of blog/Substack posting, and was consistent with the Artist Date series of posts (and um, actually doing the Artist Dates). I completed the proofread of the mountain lion cub story (and it’s available now!) and also finished the final draft of the baking contest novella.
So, I feel pretty good about my progress so far. I don’t want to let up on the momentum, even though I have more travel planned and things going on between now and the end of the year. But isn’t that always the way? There are holidays – which seem a long way away now, but will be on us before we know it.
The strength of making a plan is that it helps you be consistent, even when things get busy. What doesn’t get planned, often doesn’t get done.
I break it down into a few simple steps:
What I want to do
When I want to do it (days, times, deadlines)
What support I need
Rewards!
A contingency plan for when things go sideways (which they always do, one way or another)
This takes just a few minutes in your journal, or on the computer. Or maybe you make a big poster and put it up somewhere you can see it daily.
You should be as specific as possible, for example:
What I want to do:
Revise the draft of my MG novel
Query the baking contest book
Finish the Artist Date series on Substack
Write blog post 2x/month
When I want to do it (days, times, deadlines):
Query the baking contest book – by end of September
Finish the Artist Date series on Substack – one per week until I reach 52 total
Write blog post 2x/month (2nd week, 4th week)
Revise the draft of my MG novel – by end of December
Use my writing time, Mon-Fri from 8:00-9:00 am to accomplish these goals; also weekend times as available
What support I need:
My morning writing community (and a new community concept I’m putting together)
My writing group and beta readers
Inspiration through reading writers I admire
Rewards!
I’ve rewarded myself with lots of fun Artist Dates this summer, as well as a towering pile of books for my TBR pile.
For the fall, I’m not sure... maybe I’ll reward myself with some Läderach chocolate. Or a writing retreat somewhere. Or more elaborate Artist Dates! It’s not the reward that motivates me, but it is fun to think about. So often writing feels like a serious business, and it’s important to maintain a playful attitude.
A contingency plan:
Writing down weekly what I plan to work on each day
Allowing myself to get back into writing slowly if I need to (for example, coming back from vacation)
Allowing myself to do short periods of writing - “short time, many times” with consistency makes more progress than occasional spurts of activity.
That’s my plan for this Fall – what's yours? I encourage you to take some time to think about it this week, if you haven’t already. Write it down. Even if you don’t follow it in every detail, it will still guide you, and you will likely get far more done than you would with a vague, general intention to write.
Good luck!
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