32 Comments

I have 19 drafts sitting in my inbox as we speak but I don’t even know if I will publish them. I don’t typically schedule out. The nature of my Substack is very reactive to the events that have occurred that week.

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I have about 20 odd half baked posts in mine too. I typically don't have any completed that I schedule in advance of more than a day.

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Life is too busy for me to do that 😂

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I can see how that would make it difficult to schedule too far out! Do you find that you have occasional "evergreen" content that make it possible to schedule things out?

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I currently have half a dozen draft substack columns and only one scheduled--for tomorrow. Some of the drafts were actually scheduled but I changed their status based on a bunch of factors like timeliness. I like to have at least 2-3 scheduled, but I go with the flow of each week and don't stress about being only a week "ahead."

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I had to change the scheduling for a few over the last week, but I'm concerned I won't get my current post done for Friday and I'm going to have to do some last minute changes. We'll see.

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Good luck!

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I can relate to that. As I been increasing my writing cadence I think I will get to your state of 2-3 posts. Fingers crossed!

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How often do you post? I've been posting weekly but that also means reviewing less on my blog, since I also do a lot of editing.

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Since November, I increased it to 1 per week. For December, I am already 2 posts in and I overachieved but if I could go back in time to last week, I would have scheduled my Dec 1st post to next week. That was bad planning :) and I burdened myself in a way. When you said editing, you mean you spend a lot of time editing your post or you help edit other posts?

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I have something scheduled for every week in December BUT I have three posts that I "need" to finish for the month. With papers getting turned in left and right, it's going to be a challenge.

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OMG, I remember the end of the semester. And years ago, when I had my first full-time teaching job, I had 90 students three times a year. The workload was beyond heavy. I quite after two years to write full-time. It took two more years before I published my first book.

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Try 150 students, 100 of whom are dual credit comp students and their big argument paper is due in less than a week, with one week to grade them and get those grades submitted!

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I'm an author who's taught creative writing and I left Michigan State to start my own editing, mentoring, and coaching website: https://www.writewithoutborders.com. I work with writers at all levels in multiple genres.

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Someday I may have to ask how that goes, you know, when I have enough in retirement to consider not teaching full time anymore ;-)

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Like all businesses, it ebbs and flows. I have people working with me on a regular basis, some come and go. I've had as many as ten at a time and as few as one or two. I had a great mentor in college and wonderful editors when I reviewed for The Detroit Free Press and other papers, and great book editors all the way through my career till now, plus I did a lot of independent studies with students at MSU, so I was prepared to break free of academia, where I was really just a guest. :-)

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I write and post almost every day, no drafts, just wing it! Sometimes I go back and edit after I publish, but most of the time it's pretty straightforward, as I write about where I ride my bike. Just reporting the facts and a few observations. I write about wherever my bike takes me. 😀

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That is an impressive amount of work! I can't do that, but I love that you are writing about riding your bike. We need more people talking about riding, not driving.

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Thanks, and indeed! Austin is so bike friendly, too, which helps in a huge way.

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It is. We loved Austin on our few visits there when we lived in Houston. And my new professional goal is to someday get to SXSW Education.

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I worked with the Texas Community Colleges for awhile and SXSW Education was always eagerly anticipated. Good stuff!

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Dec 4, 2023
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Yeah, I try really hard to keep a paper planner so that I can write stuff out FAR in advance but I do it in pencil so that I can change as I go. Then I cross things off as I finish them, with the understanding that I might need to 1) revise and 2) change the dates if things come up and I need to post something more timely.

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The discipline to keep a paper planner is impressive. I can’t seem to get back to pen and paper.

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I like and need the accomplishment of being able to cross items off of a list. When I don't have a list or I'm too busy to even make a list, I fall apart!

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Dec 6, 2023
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I can't write out most of my work by hand because I want to be able to write as fast as I can think. But the paper planner is important to me now because it is so satisfying to have it written down and checked off. Plus, it holds me more accountable.

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I am intrigued to know more about your planning process. Do you use a digital one to organize or manual?

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Dec 6, 2023
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And that’s the best way really, social media and apps have made many of us less handson and more distracted.

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