How to Organize Your Writing

Jan 7

Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links. If you click through and purchase a product, we will earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

The first month of the year is marked with so much freshness—fresh starts for new dreams, empty calendar pages, second chances, new goals, and of course, another opportunity to grow as a writer. With so many distractions tearing us away from our writing goals, it’s important to revisit our editorial calendar and organize this next year for maximum productivity.

Writers come in different shapes and sizes with different approaches and applications of their communication gifts. Many of my clients are not necessarily natural writers but are gifted ministers with a message that needs to be heard. Others are more developed in their writing disciplines and are applying them in books, blogs, and other media. All need a plan to succeed in their writing.

Regardless of your particular writing bent, if you plan on publishing any kind of work this year, you will need to get serious about your organization and implementation. As the old saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Nothing meaningful just happens by accident; thoughtful and fruitful words are the result of thoughtful and fruitful discipline.

Like many in the artistic fields, writers can often struggle with discipline and self-control. It seems that the creative energy sometimes overshadows personality flaws like timeliness, discipline, structure, follow-through, and organization. As a sanguine-phlegmatic, I’ve personally dealt with many of these issues and have learned to overcome them through daily discipline and self-control—which, I might add, are characteristics and fruit of the new life in Christ Jesus. God expects His children—even those of us with creative personalities—to become disciplined, productive, and reliable people! A lack of these qualities simply reveals immaturity in our walk with God and in our personal growth and development.

Sometimes, creative people like writers, musicians, and artists can get so carried away with the excitement of the creative process that they forget boundaries of time, work-life balance, and healthy habits. I know there are times when I’ve been so engrossed in editorial deadlines or creative projects that I’ve forgotten to eat dinner! I’m sure we’ve all been there a time or two when the flow is so alive that other things just get tossed to the side as we move forward in what we do best—create again and again.

However, without proper discipline and organizational boundaries in our lives, our creative energy can literally pull us into unhealthy imbalance. What happens during a creative binge when we forget to eat properly or spend time with our spouse? Our life starts moving in a direction of chaos! And that my friends, is the tension we as creatives have to master—the art of discipline and organization. It’s the art of learning to create good boundaries even with our own selves, so that our best selves can grow and flourish.

Now that you understand why creative discipline is so important to the success of your writing endeavors, it’s critical to make your creative time productive time. It’s one thing to be in a creative flow with no boundaries, and it’s a whole other kind of drama when you’re in a creative flow and are all over the place. While there is a time for “freeform” creativity, most productive creativity has certain goals, structures, and deadlines within its parameters. Disciplined, organized creativity is, by far, the most productive, the most fulfilling, and the most valuable to others.

So as you’re sitting down with that cup of coffee and your new 2019 planner and dreaming about all the things you’d like to write this year, chances are you won’t write anything unless you plan it, schedule it, and discipline yourself for it. You may be a natural writer or a gifted communicator, but without organization, your words will remain unsaid, unpublished, and unwritten. You, my friend, are the only one who can take charge of your time, your gift, and your words!

As an editor who wants to see your best words shine, I have a few suggestions that will help bring structure and productivity to your writing. If you’ll do these things, your creativity will flow, be challenged to grow, and find new purpose in discipline. Your writing time can be both fruitful and productive, while your published words will bring great blessing to others.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

RELATED: FIVE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR 2018

1. BEGIN WITH THE END GOAL IN MIND

Have you ever tried a recipe without knowing what you were baking? Probably not. How would you ever know what the process would be if you didn’t know that all the flour and sugar you were mixing were to be chocolate chip cookies? If you didn’t know you were making cookies, you might think you were making pancakes, muffins, or even a cake! Knowing the end goal in mind keeps your process clean and error-free.

In the same way, productive writing begins with the end goal in mind. While amateur writers may just put pen to paper and go wherever the winds of inspiration may take them, serious writers are disciplined and purposeful. Yes, words do take on a life of their own during the writing process, but productive words always serve as a vehicle moving the narrative forward towards an intended end. Any writing without a goal in mind is lazy and chaotic, void of purpose and power.

Whatever your task, begin with the end in mind. If you’re writing a book, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this book? What message do I want to convey? What points will help me articulate that message in a clear, concise manner? How do I want my readers to be changed by the end of the book? What process do I want to lead them through?” All of these questions will help you create a solid plan, a structured outline, and a goal that will provide parameters to your writing. As a result, your writing will be on point and productive.

Writing with the end in mind can also be applied to any blog or platform writing. Unfortunately, many amateur writers get so excited about the opportunity to express their writing through a blog that they forget to bring structure and purpose to their posts. If you’re a blog writer, ask yourself, “What is my specific platform? What key topics or messages should I write about that undergird this platform? By the end of the year, what transformation should take place in my audience after they’ve read my blog every week or month?” If you’ll begin to write with purpose, you’ll discover that each article can work towards building your platform and communicating your key messages over an extended period of time. Consequently, you’ll increase your web traffic, drive up advertising sales, and encourage or educate the masses. But it all begins with starting with the end goal in mind.

RELATED: HOW TO WRITE AN ENGAGING BLOG POST

2. IDENTIFY YOUR SYSTEM

The next key to organizing your writing is to identify your system. How often do we have a creative thought, phrase, or sentence, and think, “Man! That should go in my book!” Well, if you don’t have an organizational system in place for your writing, you’ll never be able to locate your recorded creative thoughts when you’re ready to compile your book. In other words, if you write on sticky notes or random pieces of paper and have no filing system for your moments of inspiration, you’ll never progress as a writer. You’ll be wasting most of your creative time looking for lost pieces of paper that have probably been taken out with the trash months ago. What a loss of time, energy, and inspiration!

To avoid catastrophe, simply discipline yourself enough to create and maintain a filing system for your words and thoughts. This organizational system can consist of digital files on a computer, a designated journal or notebook, or even a folder in a file drawer. (We love Microsoft Office 365!) Whatever method you choose, stick with it and discipline yourself to use it, refer to it, and manage it. If you’ll identify and maintain a system, you’ll be well on your way to guarding against loss of valuable creative writing time!

3. SCHEDULE UNINTERRUPTED WRITING TIME

Finally, if you want to publish that book or post those blogs in 2019, you must plan uninterrupted writing time in your schedule. This is undeniably one of the most important secrets to successful writing! And only you can make it happen.

Due to the nature of my entrepreneurial work and ministry, scheduling writing and editing time is one of the most critical components of my productivity. I wear a lot of hats throughout the week and balance a myriad of details from bookkeeping to managing multiple online businesses and starting up our ministry, so if I want to meet an editorial deadline for a client or write our own articles and books, I must schedule uninterrupted writing time. If I don’t take control of my creative time, it will be gobbled up by everything else on my plate!

Throughout my editorial and entrepreneurial journey, I’ve discovered a few secrets that have helped keep me on point in my writing time. For example, I designate certain days of the week as writing and editing days. This helps me safeguard my writing time, ensure that project deadlines are met in a timely manner, and maximize my productivity. When I sit down with my computer or laptop during my designated writing time, I am doing nothing else but writing. I’m not answering my phone, talking to clients, responding to emails, or texting friends. I am in the flow, and I will not be interrupted until I’ve met my goal for that time. This is simply a discipline required to organize my writing time and fulfill my editorial and writing assignments.

One thing I find helpful during my writing time is to set the atmosphere with “inspirational agents” or things that energize my creativity. I usually select background music, light a scented candle, make a cup of coffee, and clear off my desk in preparation for this very important writing time. I also put my phone on airplane mode, turn off notifications on my computer, and close my office door. All of these elements work together to customize an inspiring, interruption-free environment that is conducive for concentration and work flow. It’s amazing how much writing can be done in a short amount of time when distractions are limited and the atmosphere is inspirational!

As you move forward in 2019, I hope you will take these suggestions to heart and work on developing your creative discipline and writing organization. If you’ll write with intended purpose, maintain a system, and designate uninterrupted writing time, your writing will be both fruitful and productive this year. I look forward to reading your wonderful, beautiful words!

RELATED: CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGIES TO IMPLEMENT TODAY

Do you need help with your online content strategy?

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CONTENT MARKETING PACKAGES

Love it? Share it!

How to Organize Your Writing