Punting
I'm a planner, I admit it. In fact, I was planning so hard last night, trying to see how I could make the most of my morning hours, that I couldn't sleep. So I overslept this morning, and everything ran late. Go figure.
And yet: Eisenhower (or someone) possibly said, "Plans are worthless; planning is everything." My day has gone more smoothly than it would have, even though I forgot one key ingredient (a piece of tech, naturally) that I need to do the work I planned to do this afternoon.
But that's OK. Through the years, I have learned to punt, metaphorically. (And not in the sense of going out in that type of boat known as a punt, but in the sense of kicking away the football on 4th and long.)
So: planning or plans?
Of course, all this planning/punting relates to revisions. (What DOESN'T relate to my current work, whatever work it is I happen to be doing at the time?)
Yes. I'm revising. Or rather, I'm taking thousands and thousands (many tens of thousands) of words from almost 20 years and a lifetime or two ago, with additions, corrections, extensions, and other machinations added throughout those 20 years, and I'm building something new from those materials. Two separate plans for that work weren't successful. Time has passed. Now I have more skill, more confidence, and more sense in choosing whom I ask for help. And I'm happy to be working on this project, possibly even happier than had those early plans (either A or B) panned out.
Later this summer, I'll revise the novel I've been working on for several years. This revision will require me to let go of the original plan I had for the novel and make it better. Again, lots of material I'm happy with, and now I get to mix it up and make something new, different, and better.
Today didn't go according to plan. But my day is better--in fact, my life is better, but this is just what works for me--because I planned, both last night and decades ago.
And yet: Eisenhower (or someone) possibly said, "Plans are worthless; planning is everything." My day has gone more smoothly than it would have, even though I forgot one key ingredient (a piece of tech, naturally) that I need to do the work I planned to do this afternoon.
But that's OK. Through the years, I have learned to punt, metaphorically. (And not in the sense of going out in that type of boat known as a punt, but in the sense of kicking away the football on 4th and long.)
So: planning or plans?
Of course, all this planning/punting relates to revisions. (What DOESN'T relate to my current work, whatever work it is I happen to be doing at the time?)
Yes. I'm revising. Or rather, I'm taking thousands and thousands (many tens of thousands) of words from almost 20 years and a lifetime or two ago, with additions, corrections, extensions, and other machinations added throughout those 20 years, and I'm building something new from those materials. Two separate plans for that work weren't successful. Time has passed. Now I have more skill, more confidence, and more sense in choosing whom I ask for help. And I'm happy to be working on this project, possibly even happier than had those early plans (either A or B) panned out.
Later this summer, I'll revise the novel I've been working on for several years. This revision will require me to let go of the original plan I had for the novel and make it better. Again, lots of material I'm happy with, and now I get to mix it up and make something new, different, and better.
Today didn't go according to plan. But my day is better--in fact, my life is better, but this is just what works for me--because I planned, both last night and decades ago.