Writing projects can feel unwieldy and overwhelming sometimes, or we get so many things going on at once that we wonder if we’ll ever get it all done. It’s enough to tempt a writer to just walk away from the writing life altogether some days.
Sometimes we just want to plop on the couch and watch Downton Abbey instead. We’d all enjoy the show, I’m guessing, but I think we’d enjoy feeling productive even better.
Instead of giving up, how can we tackle these monster projects and these mega-long lists? But…where do we begin and how do we keep going?
Bird by Bird
As a writer, you probably know the story from Anne Lamott’s classic book on writing. It seems her brother was feeling overwhelmed by a report on birds when he was about 10 years old. He was close to tears, and his father comes over and sits down and says, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”
And I love that. You break down anything—a novel, book report, collection of essays, blog series, or podcast—break it down into smaller pieces and then just tackle it one by one.
But the one thing that troubles me is that her advice doesn’t really tell me what to tackle first.
The Question That Changes Everything
I have this Post-it note stuck to my desk. It’s a little sign, and I just scribbled on there: What’s the next action?
What’s the next action? helps me break things down—the big projects—into manageable chunks. They’re action steps that begin with a verb.
The idea comes from GTD, the Getting Things Done productivity system by David Allen. I’ve implemented a lot of his ideas, but the one takeaway from the GTD approach that has made the biggest difference in my life is that question:
What’s the next action?
From Project Labels to Actual Actions
Let’s just take this podcast, as an example. In the past, I might have put on my to-do list: podcast. But that’s not really an action. That’s just a label. It’s a project. It’s not really an action because there’s no verb involved. There’s nothing to do.
But if I ask myself, what’s the next action?—the very next thing I need to do in relation to that project—that’s when I start to get focused and turn that project into a manageable list of steps I can take to get this thing done.
I can do it fairly quickly, and it helps me organize myself.
If I were to ask about this podcast, What’s the next action? I might answer:
- Think of ideas for the Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach podcast.
What’s the next action?
- Well, I need to pick ideas and decide on a focus.
Good. What’s the next action?
- Research the ideas
- Write the draft and finalize what I want to say
- Record the podcast
- Edit it
- Write the post that goes with the podcast
- Upload it
- Publish it
And what’s the next action?
- Promote it
And so you see, with that question, I start to move step by step through each action that will get me through to completion. It also gives me something to do so that my to-do list has me actually doing things.
Making Progress, One Action at a Time
Yes, breaking it down into small pieces looks like a lot; it can feel overwhelming by the sheer quantity of tasks. But as I move through, I begin to feel like, Yes! I’m making progress in this writing life of mine.
These days, that’s how I break down just about any project, goal, or assignment and create a plan. It’s how I prioritize what needs to be done next. I keep asking, What’s the next action? When I do, the most urgent and most important tasks become clear.
For a writing life that flourishes, I encourage you to ask yourself: What’s the next action?
Write it down…then go do it.
Resources:
- Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, by Anne Lamott (story told in the podcast found on pages 18-19 in the Anchor Books, Doubleday, edition)
- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen
Is your writing life all it can be?
Let On Being a Writer, by Ann Kroeker & Charity Singleton Craig, act as your personal coach, to explore the writing life you already have and the writing life you wish for, and close the gap between the two.
“A genial marriage of practice and theory. For writers new and seasoned. This book is a winner.“
—Phil Gulley, author of Front Porch Tales
Today is the perfect morning for this to land in my in-box. I wrote down all the writing-life projects I have going on and started listing next actions. It’s a sketch of a list — some of them will need to be broken down into more steps — but it gives me a visual of what all is going on, a better grasp of priority (which is sometimes, but not solely, deadline-driven), and a gauge of how far each might be along the start-finish continuum.
This seems similar to the practice of using index cards to take notes and organize a piece of writing. It seems like a lot of work up front, but it pays off. In both cases, part of the benefit is increased clarity.
Laura, I’m so glad this helps you with your own big project(s)!
Ann, LOVED this…Thank you!
Dolly, I’m so glad! This one ran a little bit longer than the previous podcasts, so I hope listeners stick with me. 😉