Notes from Sheila’s talk on Getting our Ducks in a Row

See https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Getting-our-ducks-in-a-row.pptx to download a copy of the PowerPoint presentation.

1. What is a writer? Someone who writes?
   1. But what separates a writer from someone who writes shopping lists and the occasional stroppy email?
   1. Maybe… a writer is someone who has written (or plans to write) something, sometime, that they, or someone else, thought (or will think) was worth reading.
2. Remembering John Hoover’s comments about purpose and passion, we’re going to try to get our purpose and passion to point in the same direction, and get all our other writing ducks in a row:
   1. Purpose
   1. Passion
   1. Plan
   1. Plot
   1. Practicalities
   1. Priorities
   1. Procrastination
   1. And maybe even… Productive Procrastination
3. Starting with Purpose. Why do you write?
   1. Have fun
   1. Stop your son from pestering you
   1. Keep a record of your family history
   1. Feel like you’ve got something to say
   1. Get those voices out of your head
   1. Achieve something worthwhile
   1. Can’t help it – it’s like breathing
   1. It’s a way to make something permanent instead of just talking
4. And passion?
   1. History
   1. Family
   1. Middle-grade kids
   1. Memories
   1. Politics
   1. Humor, and many other things
5. What’s the difference between Passion and Purpose?
   1. Purpose tells you what you want to do.
   1. Passion drives you to do it.
6. How do you make passion and purpose point in the same direction?
   1. If your purpose is to please your grandchild, and your passion is for family history, what happens when your grandchild says “Boring”?
      1. Change your purpose to keeping the history alive…
   1. If your purpose is to earn a fortune, and your passion is for niche topics…?
      1. Change your purpose to writing something of value…
   1. If your purpose is…?
      1. Maybe the key is to be flexible. Don’t focus on competing passions and purposes, but focus on where they are aligned.
7. Then it’s time to ask: How will you do it? Do you have a plan?
   1. If you’re doing Nanowrimo (national novel-writing month) – plan to write 1,200 words a day?
   1. Determined to finish – plan to spend 2 hours a day?
   1. Permanently procrastinating – plan to plan?
   1. Plan to write as a treat at the end of a busy day
   1. Set a calendar date for starting and finishing…
8. Does your plan include a plot, not just for what you’re writing, but also for you:
   1. when, how, where, over what period of time, in what sort of places you might write.
9. What’s the difference between plan and plot?
   1. PLAN is your overall guide
   1. PLOT is your next step
10. What does your plot for your next steps look like?
    1. Plotting the story?
    1. Research?
    1. Reading more?
    1. Setting aside some writing time? Or
    1. Switch on the computer and see where you end up?
11. What does your plot for your story’s next steps look like? Are you a plotter or a pantser?
    1. Map out your writing from beginning to end?
    1. Look for the waypoints then reach them one by one?
    1. Keep your eye on the goal and see where the story takes you? Or again…
    1. Switch on the computer and see where you end up?
12. How do you make your plan and passion point in the same direction?
    1. If your passion is for history, and you’re planning a futuristic epic?
       1. Maybe you’re combining passions
          1. Time-travel?
          1. History repeats itself?
    1. If your passion is for adults and you’re planning a childrens’ picture book?
       1. Maybe you’re trying to help adults understand children (or vice versa)
    1. If your plan…?
       1. Again, the key is to be ready to change something so that plan and passion point the same way
13. How do you make plan and plot point in the same direction?
    1. If your plan is to write 2,000 words a day and your plot says you need to research something first?
       1. Change your plan to include research
    1. If your plan is to finish by Christmas and your plot says you can’t start until Thanksgiving?
       1. Change your plot to start earlier
    1. If your plan…?
       1. You have to start sometime. You have to finish sometime. But make sure your plan and plot are aligned, so you don’t just waste time feeling like a failure.
14. But that’s not all. Life gets in the way. So how does all this fit in with the practicalities of your life?
    1. Do you have time to write?
    1. Do you have space where you can write?
    1. Have you run out of ideas?
    1. Do you have too many ideas?
    1. Can writing even fit in with your current priorities (because writing isn’t the only thing in your life)?
15. Are you still a writer if you procrastinate?
    1. Yes, because other priorities can be much more important
    1. Yes, because you will continue to gather ideas while you’re procrastinating
    1. Yes, because you will mature as a writer while you wait.
    1. Just make sure it’s productive procrastination.
16. How can you productively procrastinate?
    1. Use the time to get your ducks in a row
    1. Use the time to gather new experiences and ideas, and treasure them
    1. Use the time to remind yourself
       1. You were a writer
       1. You’re still a writer
       1. You will be a writer
       1. And you belong right here in our community of writers!
17. And if you’re not productively procrastinating?
    1. STOP procrastinating,
    1. get those ducks in a row, and
    1. START productively writing instead.