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How to Create an Editorial Calendar · The Daily Writer

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey my friend, welcome to The Daily Writer, where we help writers become authors of their own lives.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: If you've ever wondered how to create a simple schedule for writing that saves you time and reduces your anxiety, today's episode is definitely for you.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Email subscriber Jane Anderson sent in a great question.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: She asks this I've heard that writing is easier when you plan a calendar of topics.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: What do you recommend for coming up with a strategy for planning, organizing, and using a blogging or newsletter calendar?
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thanks, Jane.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: That is a fantastic question.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm really glad you asked about this because it's a critical topic for anybody who wants to be consistent with their writing.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: And what we're really talking about here is what I call an editorial calendar, which is a schedule that determines when you'll write about certain topics.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the main value of an editorial calendar is that you don't have to wonder what you're going to write about.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And this is going to help you feel in control of your writing and also let you do better work because you're doing some advanced planning.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, it takes the anxiety and the stress out of this whole process.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let's take this in order of the items that you mentioned, which is planning, organizing, and using an editorial calendar.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: And these tips will apply to any kind of scheduled writing that you do, whether it's social media, blog posts, a newsletter, or whatever else that you're writing.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, let's talk about planning your calendar.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there are two factors that determine what I write about in my daily emails.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: There are things that I want to talk about and also things that I believe my readers want me to talk about.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: For example, today's episode was driven by reader questions.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, again, when I say an episode or an email, they're interchangeable because this podcast is basically just an audio version of my daily emails.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So just keep that in mind.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Those two things are interchangeable.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: So let me go back to what I was saying just a second ago, which was today's email was driven by a reader question.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: But tomorrow's email will be a topic that I've chosen.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I like to keep a mix between those two things.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: The cardinal rule, though, is that everything I send to my list has to relate to the overall themes of books, business, writing, or authorship.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: It all has to come back to those central themes.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how I plan my calendar.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Second of all, let's talk about organizing your calendar.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: So I use the writing app Scrivener to keep all of my emails and really all of my writing organized.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: I have a separate document for every email and I keep those organized by date.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's really a very, very simple system.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I urge you to use the simplest possible system for whatever kind of writing that you're doing and whatever you need.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Don't get distracted by complicated writing tools and apps because they're only going to slow you down.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now keep in mind though that I have been a Power Scrivener user for at least 10 or 12 years, but I only use probably 5% of its features.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Scrivener also has a great mobile app that's very useful, even though I use the desktop version probably 99% of the time.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Third of all, let's talk about using your editorial calendar.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So about once a week, I plan what I'm going to write for the coming week.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: I keep a running list of potential email topics in the notes app on my iPhone, and then I pick and choose what I'm going to write about that week.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: However, I also keep a running list of reader questions like the one that prompted today's email, and I select two or three of those to answer on any given week.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I switch topics around or I change things last minute if I'm not excited about it.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Frequently I think of a topic that seems interesting in the moment, but then when I go to write about it, I don't really have that much to say.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that happens sometimes.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: The big idea here is that it's good to make plans, but you have to roll with the punches and not be afraid to change topics if something more interesting presents itself.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: So, Jane, that's a scoop on how I use an editorial calendar.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: You'll have your own ways of approaching it, and I would love to hear about it.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So for anybody who's listening, feel free to shoot me an email at Kent at KentSanders.net and let me know what works for you.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, thanks so much for listening.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Keep writing, keep showing up, and I'll see you tomorrow.