IWSG: Just in Time Writing

Back when I was an international banker studying economics, spreadsheets, and productivity, a new way of managing inventory developed in Japan. Sometime in the 1960s, Toyota began experimenting with 'just in time' purchases as a way of using 'lean' inventories to reduce budget stress AND keep that manufacturing line moving.

This week, as I was browsing through advice from other writers, this strategy leaped off the page:

Balance PLANNING with WRITING (30 minutes a day)

I was immediately excited because this advice was JUST IN TIME!

For the last several months, I've been knee-deep in planning, so much so, that even as the plot summary and those character sketches came into focus, I lost sight of the story itself. My writer's inner voice started doubting and complaining as I worked to perfect the plot summary. My story lay on the page, abstract and unfinished.

Today's advice resonated. A green light flashed before my eyes, and I began to write those scenes that bring my characters together, in conflict, in danger, and, just maybe, in love.

I don't care so much about the 'perfect' plot summary any more, though I haven't given up on the planning side. That plot summary and those character sketches still need work.

But my characters are beginning to breathe as I work on writing each section. I'm excited to begin each day with THEIR story, balancing now between writing and planning.

And that's my May post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group. I hope you found my confessions helpful. May your reading, writing, revising, and editing go well!

Special thanks to  E.M.A. Timar, J. Q. Rose, C.Lee McKenzie, and Raimey Gallant for hosting May's posts. Check out what others have written HERE.

Blue Heron, Celestun, Yucatan, Mexico
(Camp, Feb 2018)