I’ve refined my writing process over the years to something that works pretty well for me. I have a list of plot points and scenes because it’s important that I have some idea of where a story is going. In years past, when I did not have this, I would write myself off a cliff and never finish the project. At least four books died that way and will probably never be finished. Now, even though I have a plan, I do not make myself stick to it if I think of something better along the way. This almost always happens. The books have a basic framework that stays intact, but the details and even certain plot points can change wildly from their initial conception. This works for me because I don’t get lost, but I’m still free to improvise. I would say that I am about 60% plotter/architect and 40% pantser/gardener, to use those old, tired models.
So, I always have a plan, but the plan is not necessarily the book. Through planning, inspiration, and improvisation, I can get myself through a story. This year has taught me that this lesson applies in areas outside writing as well.
I have recently learned that I am the kind of person who needs, in general to have a plan. There needs to be some idea of what is going to happen and how I might deal with it. My previous belief about myself was that I was a spontaneous free spirit, used to think I was a spontaneous free spirit, but that was only in comparison to my former spouse. .No, I am actually a control freak. I had just been a frustrated control freak. So, over the course of the past couple of years, I’ve made plans and seen them through with varying degrees of success. But life is not necessarily like that all the time. You can plan, but circumstances will throw things at you that you never considered. The things you counted on happening won’t happen. The people you thought you could count on abandon you, for good and bad reasons. The only thing you can really control is how you react to these curve balls life throws at you.
This has been a tough year; it’s been a season of loss since last November when I left my volunteer job at the library and someone I thought was a close friend abandoned me over it. In April, I lost my house. In August, my fiancé broke up with me. I don’t list these things to invite you to a pity party, but to let you know that you really can’t count on the future looking any particular way, no matter how well you think you have it locked in. You may have a map that tells you how to get up a mountain, but the map is not the mountain, and it might be vastly different than what you expect. This is no one’s fault, it’s just how life works. The truth is, we can’t count on anything. Today thousands of writers woke up to an email that the program they had counted on for their income, Kindle Vella, was being discontinued. There went all of their plans. This could happen to any of us. The Amazon kdp program that I rely upon could be discontinued with no warning. You can have your eggs in more than one basket, and that’s probably smart, but then there could be some sort of natu0ral disaster or an asteroid strike and all of us are at square one again.
I am, objectively, in a pretty good place right now. My living situation is sorted satisfactorily, and I’m finishing up my digital art and design certificate and will get back to writing full time in January. There’s a list of 30 books I want to write, and I’m making my way through that list. It should take me about 12 years, on the current schedule. I’ve decided that’s the work I am here to do, and everything else is just a bonus. I’m definitely not counting on circumstances continuing as they are. I’m not counting on ever finding a partner and getting married, which was something I thought had been locked in. I can make plans and set priorities, but true strength does not come in sticking to that original plan, but in adapting to circumstances so you still meet your goals, even if you have to do it in a way you’d never imagined doing it.
You can make your plans, but your plans will not necessarily be your life. The map is not the mountain. You might end up somewhere better than you’d thought, or you might deal with challenges you’d never imagined. We can’t really count on anything specific ever happening. That’s the beauty of life and also the agony. Nothing is certain. All we have is the present moment, but that’s what makes us powerful. So, do your best to set yourself up for success, but realize true strength comes in rolling with the punches sometimes.