The Russians Don’t Take A Dump, Son, Without A Plan

Somehow this line from “The Hunt For Red October” from 1990 got stuck in my head and I always remember it when someone talks about making plans.

Like in the case when people abandon their plans or don’t even make them when they have little time.

Because they think it saves them time to jump into working mode without a plan when there’s little time.

Also reminds me of my school days.

In German classes (German is my mother tongue), a friend and me we were the only ones in the class, who, when we got the assignment for the exam, sat there, thinking, apparently doing nothing, when all the others frantically jumped in and began writing like there was no tomorrow.

Because they wanted to make good use of their time.

While this friend of mine and myself, what we were doing was thinking about how to approach this topic.

We were making a plan.

It was a mental plan most of the time, but nonetheless.

When we began writing we knew hot to tackle the topic, which saved us a helluva lot of time in the long run.

Imagine being mid-exam and getting stuck.

Not a good situation to be in.

Whatever writing project you’re working on, you should have a plan.

ESPECIALLY if you have little time. Because you can’t afford to get stuck, so you need to lower the risk right from the beginning.

And, guess what…

If you have a plan, while you’re writing, you don’t have to think about your structure (that much) anymore because you already have it down, which frees up your thinking and give inspiration a greater chance to find you.

Want more tricks on how good planning frees up your inspiration?