I’m doing the A to Z Challenge in April using the theme “What to Pack on Your Creative Journey.”

A completely unscheduled vacation might sound good, until you waste a morning in a hotel room deciding what to do next or an afternoon wandering around the least interesting portion of a fascinating city. Even a beach vacation benefits from a bit of structure – a stack of reading materials to choose from, a couple of pre-scheduled tours, and a list of shops to visit.

I thrive in structure. I drown in chaos. ~Anna Kendrick, Scrappy Little Nobody (2016)

I need an astounding amount of structure to get myself to do what I claim that I want to do. This applies to my creative journeys as much as it does to my healthy habits.

Plan and elevation of a small house
Sir John Vanbrugh, England, early 18th century
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Losing weight required an on-line support group, a lot of books, meal plans, and a daily exercise habit. Writing a novel required all the energy and support of NaNoWriMo, plus a scenes list and character profiles. Reading a book for my book club requires a post-it note with a goal for the page number to reach each day.

To-do and check lists, mind maps, and journals are good structures for most of my creative projects.

Trackers are motivating for me. I can get myself to do amazing things to earn a check mark on a list or a star on a chart.

A deadline encourages me to finish a project. The A to Z Challenge has scheduled dates when posts are expected to appear. For projects that are less public, my own deadlines keep me on track – even if sometimes I move the deadline because I was too optimistic about how quickly I could finish something.

Here are some of the structures that I used to write my A to Z posts:

• A grid on my white board where I drew a star next to each letter when I completed the draft
• A journal file where I kept track of the work that I did each day as well as the notes and drafts
• An orientation mind map which included the following items:
  • A repeatable task list for how to approach the draft of each letter
  • A schedule for writing the draft of each letter
  • A repeatable task list for how to approach the blog set up and scheduling of each letter

What structures support you on your creative journeys?