cynnaden

by Cynthia Naden

PLANNER.FRANKLIN 80326_6lrg I have been using a planner since the early 1990s and before when I was in real estate. It was a simple spiral 5×7 notebook. It worked for me until I was introduced to the Franklin Covey Planner when I was a paralegal working for Honda North America. The company was paying for the planners, and everyone was encouraged to use the Franklin system. I did and loved it. I continued to use the Franklin program even when I changed employers.

I had discovered how beneficial it was and in the habit of writing things down and marking them off when I accomplished them. I hadn’t planned on changing, but when I was forced into early retirement and decided to pursue a writing career, I converted my planning to that of a writer and discovered that it was more important than ever.

PLANNER.NOVEL2 il_1140xN.2394617989_pn00 However, I am still in search of the perfect writer’s planner. I have immersed myself into planning groups and become friends with other authors who use planners. Surprisingly a number of them use a combination of planners. I was surprised to learn that my author friends had incorporated several different ones depending on what they needed to track to organize their busy lives. They will use an individual planner for personal, family, and writing.

When selecting a planner – there are choices: dated and undated, weekly or daily layout in addition to monthly design, hole punched/loose-leaf, spiral-bound, hardcover bound, softcover bound, size, i.e., 5.75″ x 8.25” or 7″ x 10″, 8” x 11”, and the list goes on. The planner world has expanded into adding stickers for a personal and decorative touch!

PLANNER emma-matthews-digital-content-production-8K62atzbulQ-unsplash I have used a Panda Planner, Amplify, Commit30, Happy Planner, Erin Condren, Define Your Day, Full Focus, and All in One Planner by the Ivory Paper Company.

My problem is that I have tried several different ones besides Franklin and come back to it, but find it lacking and not always exactly what I need for my writing career. Hence, I have a stack of the planners, as mentioned above, that I am using or have tried out.

Help me! What is your go-to planner?

By Cynthia C. Naden (writing as Claire Naden)

Small Cynthia Period Images #3 As I sit at my computer and think back to 2014, I recall how devastating it was to me when I was forced into early retirement. But on the flip side, I looked forward to writing full time.

My first book, Cache in the Stacks, was loosely based on my personal experience of receiving a threatening phone call in the middle of the night. I used that as the premise for Cache, and my writing took off. When I discovered a historical twist that fit into my plot, I asked myself, “Why not write historical fiction?” which I love to read and always wanted to write.

I had an idea and began to develop my characters, settings, timeline, and plot twists. I wrote snippets starting in 2016 and revised my title but kept my characters and the basic premise intact. I wasn’t sure what subgenre it fell into, having started it as a historical romance, and it morphed into a murder mystery taking place during World War II.

In the meantime, I had an idea for a woman’s fiction that would start in my hometown of Pasadena, California, and move quickly to Kauai. Coincidentally, my husband and I planned a trip for our anniversary to Kauai, and I found the perfect opportunity to research my new novel. I gathered information and made contacts on the island, hoping that I would be able to have a book launch at a bookstore on the Garden Island in the future. I couldn’t believe how fast I wrote this book. It was published in December 2019.

I was happy to publish a book a year, but my historical fiction still sat with a few words written here and there. I knew where I wanted to go with it but didn’t know how to get there. To say I was stumped would be an understatement.

Then Covid hit, and my plans to launch my woman’s fiction were put on hold. Covid put me into a state of depression, and I lost my ambition to write. Thankfully, my critique group’s twice-monthly Zoom meetings kept me accountable. I started writing sequels to my first two books. But my historical sat in a holding pattern. It wasn’t that I didn’t think about it but I couldn’t put the “pedal to the metal” and take off with it.

I ask myself do I stay where I am where it’s comfy or move forward with my historical fiction? How can I pull myself up from the utter pits of despair I have felt for the past year? I don’t think so. My word for 2021 is persevere, and this is what I plan to do: sit down, pull up my manuscript on the computer and write what I dearly love: stories set during World War II, which satisfy my desire to write historical mysteries. Covid may still be here, but I refuse to let it impede my writing. I will persevere!

More about Cynthia, her books, and a review of Cache Under the Stacks