LIFT-OFF Writing Camp Day 2
It’s time for a cunning plan!
Gooooooooood morning, afternoon, or evening, wherever you happen to be! And welcome to Day 2 of LIFT-OFF Writing Camp!
What Day 2 is all about
On this second day of LIFT-OFF Writing Camp, we’re going to focus on the thing that will not only enable you to make the most of this week but will also set you up to continue and complete your project: making a plan!
When I say ‘PLAN’ you say ‘ING’!
PLAN! 🫵
PLAN! 🫵
Let’s do this.
‘I have a cunning plan….’
I love a plan. There’s something about a plan that makes me feel like I’ve got this, like I’m in control of my destiny, like my crazy-big goals are possible. I’m sure it’s my love of plans that ultimately led to my naturalization as a Swiss citizen—this country runs on plans.
My love of plans is also one thing I have in common with Edmund Blackadder, eponymous anti-hero of the eternally hilarious BBC sitcom Blackadder. Each of the four seasons of Blackadder is set in a different historical period: the Middle Ages, early modern England, Georgian England, and World War I (as a medievalist, I wish I could say I loved the medieval season, but it’s definitely not my favourite!). There are also a couple of one-off specials, but imho, the really good stuff is in those four seasons.
Anyway! At various points in this sitcom, either Blackadder or his long-suffering servant Baldrick announces that he has ‘a cunning plan’—it’s basically their catchphrase. Ok, these cunning plans often don’t work out because the main characters are surrounded by madmen and fools (or are fools themselves). But even though their plans rarely go as, well, planned, each time I hear the words ‘I have a cunning plan’ I share in the thrill that comes with good planning!
So on this second day of LIFT-OFF Writing Camp, let’s all embrace our inner Blackadder and make a cunning plan! Where Blackadder and his cronies failed, we will succeed!
And once we’ve succeeded, we can go re-watch Blackadder.
Day 2 Writing Prompts
Take a moment to look through the writing prompts below and select which one suits you today. If you’re not sure where to start, I encourage you to try out Option 1 before you try anything else.
Option 1: Devising a plan
Remember that monthly writing plan template I shared with you yesterday? Well, it’s time to give it a whirl!
Go ahead and download that document (which is in Word—here’s a version in Pages). Don’t worry, we’re not going to fill in the whole thing today. All we’re going to do is start filling it in and see where that takes us.
At the top, where it says ‘WRITING CALENDAR FOR [month/year]’, fill in the month and year.
Even though this is the Tuesday of a week that is itself in the middle of January 2025, go ahead and fill out the first ‘Week of’ table by labeling it ‘Week of 20 January’.
In the ‘Tues’ slot of that week, add ‘Plan first steps of [INSERT YOUR PROJECT NAME HERE]’.
Now take a look at the slots for Wed, Thurs, and Fri of this week, and take 5 minutes to reflect on what feasible first steps you could take on each of those days so that at the end of this Writing Camp you can look around you and say, ‘Hey, I got that project started!’
If you’re feeling a little at sea, feel free to choose one or more of the following super feasible goals (and feel free to set the same goal more than once!):
Freewrite about some aspect of your project for 10 minutes
Read something relevant to your writing project for 30 minutes
Try sketching an outline of part (or all!) of your writing project
Listen to something relevant to your writing project for 30 minutes
Reach out to a potential collaborator on your project
Meet with a current or potential collaborator on your project
Watch something relevant to your writing project for 30 minutes
5 minutes later….
Did you do it? Do you have A Cunning Plan for the next three days? Huzzah! Now write down (or type, or draw) your plan for each day in the relevant slot.
If that’s all you feel up to doing today, no problem: put your Cunning Plan somewhere you can find/see it easily, and I’ll see you tomorrow. If, on the other hand, you feel like you can keep going, try filling out some more of the writing plan. Ask yourself:
What do I want to complete by the end of this month?
What can I feasibly do by the end of this month?
How can I break that larger goal down into smaller weekly goals?
How can I break those weekly goals down into daily goals?
Option 2: Freewritten description of your daily task
Like I noted yesterday, one of the things that most often gets in the way of a good, steady writing practice is fear of imperfection. It’s hard to start writing when you know that what you’ll write at first probably won’t look like at all what you want to end up with!
If this is something you’re struggling with, try another round of freewriting to trick your brain into chilling out. Give yourself 5 minutes to freewrite a description of what task you need to achieve today. During those 5 minutes, do not look back. Do not stop to correct anything you’ve written. Don’t stop at all. Just keep moving forward, even if what you’re writing occasionally includes stuff like ‘I’m really worried I won’t be able to figure X out’ or ‘I really don’t want this project to end up like Y’ or ‘Why does Mary keep making me do this’.
Once you’re done with your freewriting, look it over, but don’t correct or erase anything. Instead, if there’s anything in there that seems useful, circle/highlight it, and maybe see if you can come up with any further notes on those specific useful bits. If you’re not yet sure whether there’s anything useful in there, don’t worry! You can either set it aside until Day 3 (the brain doesn’t stop writing just because you’re not typing or holding a pen!) or try out Option 3 below.
Option 3: You do you
If you’re at Writing Camp for the camaraderie and accountability rather than the prompts, that’s great! Do your own thing, and let us know about it in the chat!
Ok, folks: time to write!
I’ll see you tomorrow for Day 3 of LIFT-OFF Writing Camp!
To celebrate my birthday month, I’m offering my usual 2-for-1 deal: 2 people can enjoy 1 year of a paid Page by Page subscription for the price of 1 subscription!
If you’re a free subscriber who’d like access to everything in the PBP archive (plus all paid subscriber posts) for a year, or if you’re someone who’s been waiting for an even more affordable way to support my work, this is your chance!
To take advantage of this deal:
Find a buddy who’ll reimburse you for half the normal subscription cost for 1 year.
Sign up for a paid annual subscription.
Send me your buddy’s email (to mary [[at]] marycflannery.com) so you both get a paid annual subscription at 50% off for 1 year!
If you’re already a paid subscriber and want to take advantage of this deal and share the PBP magic with a friend: no problem. Just follow Steps 1 and 3 above!
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As ever, thanks for reading!
VB,
M