The Writer’s Roadmap by Leigh Shulman

This book was created for writers ready to get serious about their work. This is a workbook that fits perfectly with the Journaling for Entrepreneurs concept.

Now it’s your turn to stop struggling to make a living writing and make your writing dreams come true.

Whether you want to write full-time or part-time, whether you want to write fiction or non-fiction, whether you want to write a blog, do freelance work, or write books, you need a plan to make these things happen.

If you want to create a career around your writing, you need to treat it like a business. This means creating goals and making a business plan to help you reach those goals.

If you don’t know what you want, how can you possibly hope to accomplish it?

The Writer’s Business Plan

Before you get scared away by the idea of a business plan, you should know:

This isn’t the traditional business plan.

This is a plan specifically for writers, created based on a tool used by small businesses (OGSM).

This workbook takes you through the process step-by-step.

Every section is explained, and examples are provided, so you know exactly what you need to do for each area.

‘Start today. Start now and just imagine where you will be one year from now. It will be amazing.’

*Note: This book will require you to take the process seriously if you want to make it work for you. Leigh Shulman warns in the beginning of the book that if you are taking more than a day per question, you’re not dedicating the necessary time.

That being said, the process of completing the different sections is made easy with questions at each stage so you fine-tune your ideas.

For example, one of the questions in the objective stage is:

When I picture my ideal writing life, what does it include?

Using OGSM

OGSM stands for objectives, goals, strategies, and measures. The Writer’s Roadmap takes you through each of these areas, explaining what each section means in detail.

Objective: What you want to accomplish with your writing and how that fits into the big picture of your career and life.

The rest of the roadmap is used to break down your objective into manageable actions.

Go big. Go bold. Go blue sky with your dreams.

Goals: The ideas and projects you want to pursue to reach that objective.

The goals are the dream projects and ideas that fit into your objective. To accomplish these you need strategies in place.

Strategies: The how-to of reaching those goals.

These are the steps you take to accomplish the goals.

Measures: How you determine if your strategies are working.

These are the tools you use to determine what is and is not working. The measures used will help you create a better business plan.

‘Having a set of writing tools helps when you get lost in your writing process. And we all get lost sometimes.’

Once you understand what each section means, you will be prompted to create your own objectives, goals, strategies, and measures for your writing career. As I said, there are plenty of examples in each section, so you know exactly what it looks like.

For each question you’re prompted to set a timer for 10 minutes and just start writing. When answering the questions, Leigh recommends writing whatever comes to mind without spending a lot if time thinking about it. You will refine later, so you don’t have to worry if something fits in with everything else.

Balanced Goals for Business and Life

By setting up the writer’s business plan, you will be able to stay on track with your writing plan. The plan isn’t just about creating a career though. It is an all-encompassing plan, prompting to evaluate your life goals along side your career goals.

This helps you create a business plan that will help you achieve all your goals.

Your work goals should leave the space and time you need to enjoy your personal pursuits.

By using this system, you are creating a career around your goals instead of living your life around your work.

You are also learning how to set necessary boundaries so you can get the work done that you need to do. It can be easy to try and do everything because we don’t want to let people down. Part of creating a good plan is learning to say no when you need to.

Who cares if the people in your life don’t like the boundaries you set for yourself? Their happiness is not your responsibility.

For People Serious About Their Writing Career

If you are serious about making a living with your writing, I highly recommend this book. Not only does it teach you how to create a good plan for your writing business, and how to set necessary boundaries, but it also teaches you to celebrate each victory along the way.