Jerry Seinfeld has this idea for creative output: don’t break the chain. Essentially, the idea is to put a big X on your calendar every day that you write. After a few days, you’ll have a chain of Xs. The more Xs you get, the better you’ll feel about your writing, and the more likely you’ll be to keep writing. It’s a silly little thing, but it can be amazingly motivational.
With that in mind, I’ve put together this Writing Tracker for 2015. It’s a simple, one page pdf with a letter for each day of the year, starting with today. (Personally, I only write on weekdays, so I made the weekends gray — include them in your chain if you wish.) If you write something today, draw an X. Don’t break the chain.
I also put lines for reading goals. This year, I would like to read at least one book each month and one script every week. The column on the left is for writing down what books I’m reading each month, and the column in the middle is for tracking which scripts I’ve read. I didn’t label the middle column, so you can use it however you like. If you like this idea but want to personalize it, you can also make your own template in Excel (this one took me about ten minutes.)
Download the Writing Tracker, print it out, and post it on your wall, somewhere you’ll see it every day. Hopefully this simple tool will help you have a more productive 2015.
Thank you Angela. This is awesome!