The Best Laid Plans: Make a Well-Organized Plan and Execute It Using If-Then Planning

Welcome back to my series on practical ways to finish your book using the power of psychology. These are ten tips to help you really finish your book. If you haven’t read the other articles in this series, you can check them out below:

Recently, I’ve started running with the small goal of hitting two to three miles a week. As a new runner, my weekly running goal was often thwarted by external factors, the biggest of which was the weather. I quickly learned that I am not good at running on a treadmill, mostly because I don’t get as much joy from it. Running is hard enough when I’m not staring at a wall. I made a pact with myself that if it was raining, I was going to then reschedule my run for a different day.

This meant I needed to figure out my exercise schedule early on. I started planning my day around my run day. It got so meticulous that I then started planning my whole week and work schedule around it, which actually led to my spouse and I having a weekly planning meeting to get our schedules on the same page. We call it the “Weekly Waffle Executive Committee Meeting” (“Waffle” is an inside joke about our last name).

I like to think about writing as a skill. Like drawing or driving a car or anything you can do in life—the more you do it, the better you get at it. Improvement is incremental. It starts slow, and then the more you do it, the faster you get.

And, like exercise, you can get better at something if you set goals. I kind of hate making exacting plans. I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to be told what to do. But even I can admit: Having a good plan is really useful when it comes to finishing a project.

If you find even the whole “break it down into smaller parts” aspect of planning scary, then you might try what is called “If-then” planning. For my running analogy, I told myself if it was raining, then I would run on a different day. This is where you come up with scenarios that might stop you from finishing your project and then think of solutions to those barriers.

The goal: Finish the book
The Barrier: What if my first draft sucks?
The Solution: If my first draft sucks, then I’ll revise it until it’s better.

The Goal: Finish the book
The Barrier: I’m not sure where to go next in my plot
The Solution: If I’m not sure where to go next, then maybe I’ll skip to a different part of the book.

The Goal: Finish the Book
The Barrier: I’ve spent so much time on this book already and I still feel the book isn’t any good
The Solution: If this book isn’t meeting my standards, then maybe I’ll start a new project that feels less ambitious and more attainable.

According to psychology, people who use “If-then” planning are often better at reaching their goals. One study by Peter Gollwitzer, who first came up with the concept, found that 91 percent of people who used an if-then plan stuck to it when it came to exercise (Psychology Today).

About half of the people who create a goal across various aspects of life, from exercise to job-hunting, actually complete that goal (Bieleke et al.). This is probably an accurate number for books, too. I have finished writing four books in my life. But before those four books was a graveyard of half-finished books.

Gollwitzer found that there were two types of planning techniques. The first made specific goals. An example might be, “I want to finish my book.” This goal has great intentions, but it’s not focused on implementation. The second type of goal setting was if-then: “I want to finish my book…if I write 1,000 words a day, I will finish my book in 90 days.” The if-then construct creates a way to implement the goal. This second type was found to be more effective across the board.

Essentially, creating if-then goals helps you to establish habits. You might decide you want to write at a certain time each week. For example, I’ve been in a weekly writing group for a few years now. We meet via Zoom every week for an hour-long writing sprint. Mentally, I’ve decided that if it’s Tuesday at 7, then I’m writing. Having friends in the group helps because I know other people are counting on me being there to support them in their goals.

So, let’s say your goal is to finish your book in 2025. Here are some “if-then” mini goals you might create:

Word-Count Based Goals:

• If I want to finish my book in 2025, then I need to have written 90,000 words by at least mid-year so I can start the revision process. This means I need to write 15,000 words a month or 3,750 words a week.

Time-Based Weekly Goals:

• If I’m stressed by meeting a weekly word count goal, then I will create a one or two-hour writing date each week.

Revision Goals:

• If I’m not sure what revision my book needs, then I will get three beta-readers to give me feedback

Submission Goals:

• If I want to get published, then I need to submit to at least five agents/publications this month

Process Goals

• I struggle to meet my writing goals each week when I’m busy with family things. If I have a big family event in a week, then I’m going to give myself the grace to take a writing break.

See how these goals are specific to both your process as a writer and also your project? While I could come up with a set of goals to tell anyone how to finish a book, those goals might not ever work because they don’t take into account the personal process of goal implementation that varies by each person’s abilities and skillset.

The thing I like about if-then planning for writers is that it’s also about breaking down barriers. A lot of barriers to finishing a project are emotional. If-then takes the emotion out of the equation and allows the writer to get past that barrier.

I’m a big fan of giving yourself grace as a writer. The biggest barrier to writing is self-doubt and creative shame. Negative thoughts about your project, who you are as a writer, and your lack of ability to meet goals aren’t useful, although they are often necessary to process. Allowing yourself to let go of these barriers can be a huge way to move forward. Forgive yourself and make a plan to change.

Here’s a journaling exercise to try: What one thing is stopping you from finishing your book? Can you find a solution to that barrier? Can you create an if-then habit to help you get past that barrier in the future?

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