In the world of literature and storytelling, the creative process is as varied as the stories that come to life. One essential tool that has proven invaluable to writers of all calibers is the author planner.
For a writer, the importance of organization and planning cannot be overstated. A carefully selected author planner can streamline the creative process, keeping track of plots, characters, and deadlines while leaving room for spontaneous inspiration.
One essential tip to remember when using an author planner: Always balance structure with creative freedom. Too rigid a plan might stifle creativity, while too much freedom can lead to disorganization. A good author planner will provide the perfect balance to nurture your unique writing style.
This article explores the 11 best author planners in the market, ready to support your writing journey with structure and flexibility.
Let’s dig in!
10 Best Author Planner Tools
1. The Ultimate Author Planner by Rebekah R. Ganiere
- USA Today Bestselling Author’s Solution: Rebekah R. Ganiere, a USA Today bestselling author, spent six years on a quest to find the perfect planner. Unable to find one that met all her needs, she took matters into her own hands and created one. Her planner incorporates every feature an author could need – daily writing tracking, goal setting, monthly and weekly calendars, business marketing, habit tracking, note-taking, book ideas, project planning, and event planning.
- Flexible and Timeless Planner: The Ultimate Author Planner is an undated, black-and-white daily planner, enabling you to start at any point and plan for twelve months. The freedom it offers is truly unmatched.
- All-Encompassing Daily Planner: The planner is designed to be the last daily planner you’ll ever need. It covers every facet of an author’s planning needs, making it an indispensable tool.
- Designed for Customization: Rendered in black and white, the planner encourages your creativity. It provides a blank canvas for your colorful markers, washi tape, stickers, and more. Unleash your creativity and personalize it to your heart’s content.
2. The Messy Author Planner by Connie B. Dowell
- Undated Planner for Unrestricted Use: This planner comes in an undated format, allowing you to kickstart your planning at any point during the year, offering complete flexibility.
- Solution for an Author’s Overwhelming To-Do List: As an author, juggling writing, publishing tasks, social media management, advertising, and continuous learning about writing craft and business can be overwhelming. The Messy Author Planner is designed to help manage all these tasks efficiently, even if you’re not naturally organized.
- Comprehensive Goal-Setting Sections: The planner features extensive goal-setting sections that address the four critical planning areas for author-entrepreneurs. It offers ample space to note down tasks and goals on a quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily basis, ensuring thorough planning.
- Embrace the Mess with this Unique Planner: This planner encourages users to dive in, scribble, and splatter as they plan. It’s designed to help you become a productive and well-planned author, even amidst the chaos of everyday life, such as a pile of dishes in the sink. You can be organized, even in the mess!
3. The Author Platform Planner by Marisa Mohi
- Simplified Book Marketing with The Author Platform Planner: This planner is designed to eliminate the guesswork typically associated with marketing a book. It provides an efficient and straightforward method to plan and execute your marketing strategies.
- Brainstorming and Planning Tool: Filled with pages dedicated to brainstorming, planning, and layout of marketing ideas, The Author Platform Planner facilitates the organization of months of online content in one sitting.
- Streamlined Platform Building: Building a platform can be challenging, but not with this planner. Marisa Mohi simplifies the process, providing a step-by-step guide on planning an editorial calendar, ensuring you have a clear roadmap of what to post for months ahead.
- Comprehensive Tracking and Planning Features: The planner offers spaces to track your platform’s growth, areas for planning SEO keywords, and suggestions on how authors can repurpose content for posting, making it a comprehensive tool for marketing strategy.
- Preparation for Email Launch Sequences and Social Media Marketing: In addition to other features, the planner includes space for planning email launch sequences. Social media marketing can be problematic for many writers, but with The Author Platform Planner, you’re well-equipped to stay ahead of the game.
4. 52 Weeks of Writing Author Journal and Planner by Mariëlle S. Smith
- Facilitates Comprehensive Planning and Progress Tracking: The planner aids users in meticulously planning, tracking, reflecting on, and enhancing their progress and goals throughout an entire year.
- Prompts Self-Reflection: It instigates a deep dive into personal introspection, encouraging users to unravel the truth about why they haven’t yet reached their desired position or goals.
- Maintains Consistent Engagement: With thought-provoking quotes and prompts featured weekly, the planner keeps users consistently engaged and motivated to continue their writing and self-exploration journey.
5. Planner: A Workbook for Authors by Piper Collins
- Thorough Workbook for Authors: This workbook is an all-inclusive solution for both traditionally published and self-published authors seeking organization during their writing process.
- Feature-Rich Planner: The planner boasts a compilation of useful charts, intricate guides, and extensive sections dedicated to note-taking and brainstorming, offering an exceptional platform for optimizing the writing process.
6. The 2023 Author’s Planner by Audrey Ann Hughey
- Comprehensive 2023 Author’s Planner: This planner is your one-stop solution for all your planning and writing-career coaching needs. It is meticulously designed to streamline your writing life and create a roadmap to achieve your authorship aspirations.
- Tailored for the Year 2023: The planner is specifically dated for the year 2023, ensuring it aligns perfectly with your planning for the upcoming year.
- Various Binding Options: This planner comes perfect-bound. For those who prefer a coil-bound edition, the same can be found under the same title on LuLu.
- Customizable Cover Choices: Despite the interior pages of the 2023 Author’s Planner remaining identical across editions, there are two different cover options available. This flexibility enables each author to select a cover that resonates with their personal tastes and style.
7. The Novel Planner by Kristen Kieffer
- Ideal Planner for Authors: The Novel Planner is an exceptional daily planner, tailored specifically for writers. Regardless of whether you’re a hobbyist, a debut novelist, or a seasoned author, this daily planner’s structure and organization will greatly enhance your writing journey.
- Incorporated Monthly and Weekly Calendars: These calendars provide a space for you to establish goals, plan tasks, mark significant dates, celebrate achievements, and more – ensuring you stay organized and productive.
- Novel Project Reference Guide: This planner enables outlining of up to two novel projects, including aspects like plot, character, setting, theme, and motifs. It helps set project goals that can be broken down into actionable steps throughout the year, and even aids in crafting a marketing strategy to promote your upcoming novel.
- Dedicated Brainstorming and Research Center: A section devoted to brainstorming allows for capturing story ideas, compiling a reading list, sketching out thoughts, and more, nurturing creativity and keeping all your ideas in one place.
- Yearly Achievements Tracker: Celebrate every accomplishment, big or small, over the course of a year with this dedicated tracker – a constant reminder of your progress and success.
- Superior Quality and Convenient Delivery: The planner, measuring 8.5″ x 11″, is printed on high-quality paper and features a glossy cover. Delivery is facilitated by Amazon’s Createspace, ensuring a reliable and smooth purchasing experience.
8. The Ultimate Fantasy Novel Planner
- Complete Guide to Novel Creation: This 200-page Fantasy Novel Planner is designed to inspire and assist writers in crafting a robust manuscript. It gently navigates them through the entire novel development process, from brainstorming their title and first line to launching their book into the world.
- Resourceful and Interactive: The planner teems with prompts, questions, worksheets, checklists, outlines, and helpful tips. It’s a comprehensive resource designed to stimulate creativity and structure in your writing process.
- Interactive Workbook Format: This planner follows a workbook format, encouraging users to fill its pages with their unique ideas. Upon completion, not only will you have a solid foundation for your drafting process, but you’ll also possess a beautiful memento of your writing journey.
- Ideal for Pantser/Plotter Hybrids: Whether you’re a pantser, a plotter, or somewhere in between, this planner is designed with flexibility in mind. Users can follow it chronologically or skip between sections, tailoring it to match their individual workflow.
9. The Author Planner by Sherrie McCarthy
- Your Writing Project Companion for a Year: This workbook and planner is designed to assist you in initiating and completing your writing projects over a span of one year.
- Immediate Start with Blank Months: Thanks to its structure featuring blank months, you can commence your planning and project execution right away!
- Blend of Self-Discovery, Goal Setting, and Progress Tracking: The author planner serves as a comprehensive resource for planning and monitoring your writing projects throughout the year. It’s a blend of self-discovery, goal-setting, and, most importantly, forward momentum.
- Overcoming Barriers to Productivity: This tool is not just about crafting your writing skills; it helps identify what may be obstructing your path to productivity and assists in overcoming these hurdles.
- Defining and Achieving Writing Goals: With this planner, you can define your writing goals, set them up, and then steadily achieve them, one after another.
- Embrace Your Best Writing Year: If you’re prepared for your most productive writing year yet, the Author Planner is the tool to get today.
10. My F*cking Novel Plan by George & Peterman
- Empowering Tool for Success: This workbook was designed as a motivational aid, encouraging users not just to meet their deadlines, but to surpass them with exceptional productivity.
- Surviving the Publishing World: Though the publishing industry can be challenging for anyone, the workbook aims to ensure that a writing career doesn’t have to be an overwhelming endeavor. It is there to support every step of the journey.
- Structured Project Management: This comprehensive workbook aids in managing thoughts and ideas for up to THREE PROJECTS. It guides users from the inception to the conclusion of a project, providing prompts for vital considerations during transitions between processes.
- Motivational Affirmations for the Tough Times: The workbook includes affirmations used by its creators during challenging times or when a boost of motivation is needed. While some of these affirmations may involve strong language, they are designed to provide the necessary push to keep moving forward, even when crafting every word feels challenging.
Best Author Planner -Summary
Author planners are more than just tools for managing time and tasks; they are companions that walk alongside authors, offering a scaffold where creativity can climb, flourish, and reach new heights.
The right author planner can bring clarity to a convoluted plot, keep your characters aligned, ensure you meet your deadlines, and yet, offer space for the unanticipated sparks of inspiration that are the lifeblood of storytelling.
Ready to stimulate your creative juices? Tap into ideas from our other articles on:
- How to Make Money Writing Online
- The Best AI Writing Tools
- 165 Actionable Weekly Goals For Achieving Success
- Digital Planner: 10 Best Tools for Boosting Productivity
Remember, every great story begins with a single idea, and with the right planner, that idea can grow into a masterpiece.
Best Author Planner – FAQs
What is a writing planner?
A writing planner, also known as an author planner, is a tool designed to assist authors in organizing their thoughts, plotting their narratives, and managing their writing schedules. These planners come in various formats and often include sections for character development, plot outlining, setting descriptions, and timeline tracking, among other features.
How do writers plan their novels?
Every writer has a unique process, but common methods include using a writing planner to outline the plot, develop characters, and organize research. They often begin with a basic plot idea, then flesh out characters and settings, and finally, outline individual scenes. Writing planners provide the structure for this process, helping writers maintain coherence and continuity in their storytelling.
Why write in a planner?
Writing in a planner helps to keep your ideas and thoughts organized, allowing for a smoother writing process. It can provide a tangible map of your narrative, making it easier to see the story’s structure, the development of characters, and the progression of key themes. Additionally, a planner helps manage your writing schedule, ensuring consistent progress towards your goals.
How should I plan my story?
Start by jotting down your basic idea. Develop your characters by detailing their backgrounds, motivations, and relationships. Plot your story, beginning with a basic structure of beginning, middle, and end, then filling in with scenes and chapters. Finally, build your story world, outlining its rules and features. A writing planner can help facilitate each of these steps.
Which author planner is best for beginners?
The best author planner for beginners would be one that is easy to use, with straightforward sections for character development, plot outlining, and setting descriptions. The YLB 90 Day Journal, for instance, has been noted for its user-friendly design and is a great starting point.
How can an author planner improve my writing?
An author planner can improve your writing by providing structure and organization to your creative process. It can help you keep track of complex storylines, develop well-rounded characters, and ensure you stick to your writing schedule. Furthermore, by externalizing your ideas, it can give you a clearer perspective of your story.
Is a digital or physical author planner better?
The choice between a digital or physical author planner comes down to personal preference. Some writers prefer the tactile experience of a physical planner, while others enjoy the convenience and flexibility of digital options. Consider your own habits and preferences when making a decision.
What features should I look for in an author planner?
Look for features such as plot outlining, character development sections, setting descriptions, timeline tracking, and space for notes and research. Some planners also have sections for goal setting and progress tracking, which can be helpful for staying motivated and disciplined.
Do professional authors use author planners?
Many professional authors do use author planners, as they find the structure and organization beneficial to their writing process. However, every author is different, and what works best will depend on their individual style and needs.
Can I customize my author planner?
Some author planners are customizable, allowing you to tailor them to your specific project or writing process. For instance, digital author planners often offer this flexibility. However, even with non-customizable planners, how you use the sections and features is entirely up to you, offering a level of personalization.