Photo: Glenn Carstens-Peters, Unsplash
My last post was entitled Writing Uncertainty. In it I offered the advice — if the world is falling apart around you, write! I still adhere to this wisdom but this month I’m taking it a step further. Let’s pin it down a little more. Let’s get specific. The idea of planning is an anathema to some who would prefer to live each day as it comes, to be open to spontaneous flow. Yet another school of thought says we create our reality through our imagination. If we want to change the world — we must imagine that world into being. Writing is one way to do this.
During the pandemic we were forced to radically change how we lived our lives and while we all want things to go back to ‘normal’ how do you plan for the future when the world continues to be rocked by extreme weather events, the threat of new pandemics, political upheaval and unrest.
Who do you consult when sitting down to make your five year plan?
If you are into astrolology you could consult Jessica Adams on her predictions for 2023-26, but don’t look if you only want to hear good news!
Or you could take to reading the futurists. I remember the impact of reading Jared Diamond’s book Collapse when it came out in 2005. And it’s interesting to hear the take of women writing in this area. Of course fiction writers have been doing this for 100’s of years. Here is a list of science fiction writers from Cyrano de Bergerac who have imagined futures before their time.
But time being short, rather than obsessing about what future exterior conditions will be like, you can simply answer that old job interview question — where do you see yourself in five years time?
I suggest doing this exercise about your writing life. You can start by making a mind map or a time line. List all the writing projects you have in mind. Your current one and the ones you want to get to next. Add in publication dates, publisher’s names, book launch locations, festival participation. Give yourself realistic time frames and rest periods in between. Then set a timetable for getting it done.
Don’t worry about money, logistics, whether you have to relocate due to weather events, job losses, health reasons. The beauty of being a writer is wherever you are you can always write. Have pen and pad, will write.
Happy writing future!
Draft Busters Online next monthly module begins on Nov 7.
Sensing Italy, June 3- 10, 2023.
Story Hunters, India Nov. 4 – 19, 2023.
Haiku Walking in Japan, April, 2024.
(c) Jan Cornall 2022
Feature photo on home page by Alexis Brown, Unsplash.
