The Artist’s Hobo Tool: Tools to Create a Writing Plan

This week, we wrapped up deciding what you’ll write, and launched levels three and four of the Writer’s Conquest: Creating a Marketing Platform and Going Back to Writing Basics. So here are some tools to help you map out a plan as you move forward to the next level of your writing career, and learn how to market yourself.

First up, is a pair of plugins to map out a blog schedule, and allow you to import a spreadsheet into the WordPress. Blogging superstar Molly Greene posted about a plugin to create an extensive calendar so you can map out your posts for the future and monitor your success. This began a bit of a Twitter conversation with Molly, Jodi Lobozzo Aman, Casee Marie, and myself that provided a plugin to import a CSV (spreadsheet file) into your WordPress in case you’ve built something in a spreadsheet format already.

Second is a very tangible series of events to help form a plan. I am very hesitant about sharing anything that starts with “Wiki.” But this works, so Form a Plan. 

Third, it’s a scorecard to see how well you write. It allows you to understand your strengths and areas for improvement. Score yourself, and then get some people together who can give you an honest scorecard. So that means avoiding overly pretentious writers who will just give you terrible scores, simultaneously don’t give it to your Mom who’ll just give you 9’s and 10’s.

Fourth, when you’re starting to feel overwhelmed by your plan creation, take a break. Do so by reading this great Cracked.com article about the “6 Stupidest Plots Supposedly Smart Movie Villains.”

Finally, Chuck Wendig is one of the Internet’s better, and more discussed, blogs. Here, he gives reasons Why Your Novel Won’t Get Published. It’s a bunch of harsh truths, but within it you will be able to see what it really takes as you make a plan.