Well, toss that baby out with the bathwater.
It’s something that I have never been able to get a handle on, and I seem to stagger from one day to the next without getting anything done. I guess I’m one of those freeform sorts of people and I guess it goes with the star sign, Gemini.
Over the years many people tried, some with limited success, others completely failing.
I’ve created outlines and created chapters as sections, and scenes within chapters, as best I could. Once upon a time, I used to teach Microsoft Project, and having this application on hand, I used this to create a timeline, using ‘slack’ time to make up for my inability to keep to a schedule.
This is like taking a sledgehammer to a tack.
Just the time to set it up took longer than it would to just sit down and write the blasted novel.
But, I’m a fly by the seat of my pants writer. The book starts, often with a start and a finish, and the rest fills itself in, not necessarily in the order of final events. Of course, this means some backwards revision from time to time, but I get there in the end.
Perhaps a little longer than it should but at least I don’t get halfway and suddenly decide on going in a different direction because I’ve suddenly got writers’ block. That doesn’t happen. It usually plays out as the start of another story, and then I mull over the changes necessary to get the original story back on track.
Yes, I’ve been to those time management courses with the books and diaries to seem to want you to time manage your life. it works to a certain extent, but you live your like inside another type of book.
Nor do I work well with deadlines.
But oddly enough most of the jobs I’ve had over the years have involved time management of one sort or another and I have survived.
Now, in retirement, I really need something to organize my days so something gets done. As a writer allocating 12 midnight to 2am for writing doesn’t seem to be a good idea.
Unfortunately, it is the best time for me to write.
Anyone else out there with the same problem, and if so what was your answer to the getting stuff done?
Thrills, Spills, and just a dash of Romance 
I bought at least four Franklin planners and even went to a Franklin seminar to learn organization. I’ve bought file folders and expandable files. I’ve bought colored everything so I could color code. I’ve bought calendars. I’ve created two Google calendars. Since graduating from college, I’ve staggered from day to day, holding time-sensitive jobs and wondering how I manage. I have vowed to be a better person and get something done. And I’m a pantser. I cannot outline an essay, or a novel, or a story, or a blog post, or anything I told my students they had to outline. I write slowly and feel my way. Ideas don’t come till a deadline looms. Scrivener makes me nervous.
BUT Tony Hillerman said he wrote his mysteries flying by the seat of his pants, not knowing what came next. You wouldn’t think it could be done, but he did it. And I seem to be able to do it, in my small way. So I’ve stopped apologizing.
And it’s a pleasure to read a post by someone who doesn’t think pantsers are lazy, crazy, or stupid. Thank you.
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