The wind’s coming in. The red and gold of early autumn is rapidly turning into the brown-gray sludge on wet asphalt of late autumn. Seasons within seasons. Gardening teaches us to live within the season, and taking that to heart what better time could there be to break out pen and paper and let words flow as rain pummels the cold windows.

And I have been writing. Some days just a sentence, other days a short story. I’ve not had any days of massive output but always something, and little by little that has moved me forward, given me momentum. Checkbox after checkbox has been ticked until one day the list I had set up for myself was all done.

My own method of working, I’ve decided to call Phases, has worked out really well. Phases entails working in longhand for the first drafts and brainstorming, and each Phase is comprised of a set of manageable tasks. This has so far been a stepping stone for me moving forward with my writing. (Read more about Phases in my previous blog posts.)

I’ve given myself permission to write badly, to experiment. I used to be able to get stuck, not able to get going because an idea or sentence wasn’t good enough. But viewing everything as an experiment takes that away, and also realizing that the first draft of anything is garbage and that a whole series of revisions will follow, takes away a lot of the pressure. I’ve also set the bar low enough that on days when I have neither the time nor energy to produce anything substantial, I can still always do something, and that’ll be enough. Hard days always happen, life happens, and that used to derail me. But with this way of working I never really stop moving forward even if the pace slows to a crawl at times.

The more I write, the more I learn how to write. Isn’t it funny how that works. “Learn by doing.” And learn by finishing. That has been a big deal these past few months, actually finishing texts, going from the first often terrible draft to something that after several revisions could hopefully pass for good. Previously I would write and rewrite and not make much progress. Now I try to get that first draft, even if some bits are really rough or outright bad. If I can get the first draft out on paper I have something to mold into a finished piece; a piece that may or may not look anything like the original text, but that’s okay.

Sixteen texts of various lengths and styles is what I’ve produced in Phase 1. Finished texts. Despite working slowly and when life allows, because I’ve kept at it every day, I’ve made progress. In the end actually a lot of progress.

I’m going to go ahead and call Phase 1 a raging success and I’ve now entered Phase 2. This will mean a few longer texts and starting to dip my toes into working with bigger projects. Still not that big though, and still sprinkling in a lot of shorter ones. One step at a time. Ramping up my word count output is something I’ll need to work on gradually.

Thanks to my new way of working I’ve gone from, sometimes, dreading writing and having a feeling of hopelessness due to perfectionism and not being able to finish everything in one go. Now I look forward to writing, at least a lot more so than before. I know that taking just one step forward means getting closer to finishing, and writing is a process, a journey rather than a destination. And I also know that I can do this pretty well. I’m not just nurturing a childish dream, I’m actually quite proficient at this thing.

Anyway, that’s a little update on the writing. It’s a process – that’s for sure. And with each Phase, I’m moving closer to my writing goals, one task at a time.

Building a habit, getting used to doing something and making it a part of your daily life, is usually a lot easier if the hurdle to get started is as low as possible. I mean really low. For my writing, I don’t have a word count requirement, I don’t have a time requirement, all I have to do is open my writing notebook, pick up a pen and write something. Anything. Now that’s a low requirement. That’s something where it feels like I can actually do that every day, even on a really bad day. I think that’s key. Doing something every day, even just a little, builds both the habit and momentum towards your goal.

And in the same vein, working on small projects can be a good way forward. I like to be able to finish things, to be able to see, or have some idea of, the finish line when I start. Taking on something too big can feel like too much, and I’m more likely to just call it a day. Starting small and working on manageable tasks can make progress feel more achievable.

So right now I’m writing small things, and keeping it fun and flowing with low expectations. Drabbles, poems, short scenes and the like.

Another positive of small projects is looking back at the list of the things you’ve finished. Keeping things small has allowed me to build a nice list of completed work, which is a real boost and incentive to keep going. I believe that even as I work on larger projects in the future, it’ll be good to sprinkle in some small ones to feel momentum.

But what does finished mean? When do I get to check that box? As described in my last blog post, I’ve delved into a new way of working I’m calling “Phases,” which roughly means giving myself a list of writing tasks or projects and once they are all completed the phase is done and I can move on to the next. The idea behind Phases is that breaking things down into smaller tasks helps keep things moving forward, and always having clear achievable goals means I always know what’s next. In the context of Phases my initial idea was that finished meant just a first draft. But that has gradually changed. Now, finished means finished, something that has been edited enough to be published in some form. And that works really well with small projects, as editing them doesn’t take an overwhelming amount of time.

But what about longer projects? When I get there I may need to treat drafting and editing as separate tasks to keep the time from start to finished low. I want to maintain a sense of progress and movement, that I’m improving and building a body of work.

Working on only small projects now that I’m trying to build a routine and create good habits has been a good idea. And as I progress to longer and longer texts, I believe I’ll still sprinkle in smaller projects here and there, something to jump into when a larger text is moving slowly.

Work small. Make something. Move forward.

It’s the start of a new work season, and I’m kicking it off with a fresh approach. It’s not exactly a project, but rather a method or a new way of working that I’m calling “Phases.”

At its core, Phases is a simple concept. Instead of dealing with large, open-ended projects, I group smaller tasks into a “phase.” Each phase is given a name that signifies its goal or purpose. Once all tasks within a phase are completed, I can move on to the next phase (with a little celebratory break in between).

The second element of Phases involves writing by hand. I use whatever pen or pencil I have available, but I always write in the same inexpensive A4 notebook. It needs to be cheap so I don’t get too attached to it, which might prevent me from actually using it. A4 is simply the format that feels most natural to me. I also keep a printout of the current phase’s task list glued into the notebook.

The final part of the system is simply to “write every day.” It doesn’t have to be much, it doesn’t have to be perfect, and it doesn’t even need to build on what I wrote the previous day. The key is to open the notebook daily and write.

The reason behind this system is that I work best with projects that have a clear beginning, end, and manageable tasks in between. However, I struggle with more open-ended projects like “write a short story” or “write every day.” Phases provides both the goals and the tasks that lead to those goals. If I get stuck, I can simply switch to another task within the current phase.

So why go analog? Mainly to remove any obstacles that might make it less likely for me to write. Pen and paper are easier to grab and start using than powering up a computer.

The first phase is “Phase 1 – Dare to Write.” I’m a few days in, and so far, so good.

I believe this could be a really effective way of working for me. We’ll see how it goes.