The 12 Week Year for Writers. Michael Lennington

Work from a written weekly planScore weekly executionTrack weekly progress toward goalsAttend Writing/Accountability MeetingsFollow weekly execution RoutineEmbrace your Writer’s Mindset Process Control, Scorekeeping, and Time Use Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8

      The 12 Week Year will also improve your focus. When you only have twelve weeks to get something done, and you can easily count the number of days and weeks you have left to finish something, your focus on getting things done will sharpen dramatically. During a 12 Week Year, you can't put things off until later; you can't imagine things will magically get done at the end of the year. In a 12 Week Year, things need to get done now.

      On the flip side, the 12 Week Year is less constricting and more flexible than an annual plan. Every 12 weeks you get to reset your goals and your plan. If you get halfway through an annual plan before realizing it isn't working, it can be demoralizing and hard to figure out how to salvage the year. But if you fail to meet a goal in this 12 Week Year, you haven't blown a whole calendar year, and you're ready for a fresh start right away with the next 12 Week Year.

      As we move ahead and dive into the details, I will warn you: there are no shortcuts – reading this book will not automatically eliminate all your writing problems. But once you have read it you will have a set of tools that, with time and effort, will reliably help you work your way around the inevitable obstacles that all writers must deal with on their journeys.

SECTION II HOW TO USE THE 12 WEEK YEAR