Each morning I make myself a little list, using the Bill Walsh Factor. I credit this list with much of my writing success-- 2,700 articles published in 160 different magazines, along with eleven books.

My little list doesn't do my writing, of course; for that I am required to do what every freelance writer must do: apply seat of pants to chair. My little list provides me with a daily guideline of what needs to be done, and as I cross things off, it becomes my own private cheering section.

This all sounds pretty mundane. Don't we all create to do lists? The Bill Walsh Factor makes my list different. Walsh was head coach of the San Francisco 49ers NFL football team for ten years, and not only was he very successful-- he won 102 games, six division titles, and three Super Bowls amongst this dog-eat-dog competition, but more importantly for us, he created what I call the Bill Walsh Factor: he scripted the first fifteen plays of every game in advance, and then stuck to them, in order. The first time on offense he ran play one, play two, play three, and so on without deviating, until all 15 had been run.

That's just what I do with my little list, although I script just ten writing plays each day. I complete play one before two, through ten, without deviating. This way I'm forced to do work I'd rather avoid right now (or forever.) The key element to the proposition is laying the list out right. If I lay out the list right, and follow the script, I get a lot done. My publishing credits reflect that.

You too can learn the Bill Walsh Factor to propel you toward writing success. I can't guarantee you'll be published regularly, but I can guarantee that you'll get a lot of writing done, and the continued repetition makes our writing better, and eventually makes us good enough to sell regularly.

If you struggle at all with procrastination, serial writership (binge writing for a week, then none for two months), making choices, feeling overwhelmed or inferior, or any of the other slings and arrows that are endemic to the writing life, creating a daily little list in this manner might help you too.

Here's how to use the method to hop onto the escalator of success:

1. List writing items you'd like done. Broad-- Write Fiction, Research Procrastination, Think of Poem for Mom's Birthday. Or narrow-- Write Nut Graph of Essay on Sledding, Figure Slant for Reader's Digest Query, Write Ten Metaphors.

2. Flag the most important ones. Finish article due in ten days, outline for a book, re-write of an essay.

3. Divide the flagged ones into smaller, more-easily-finished parts-- write nut graph for article on trees, write five outline points for fiction book on island, re-write two paragraphs of essay on compulsive-lying girlfriend.

Choose one or two of these smaller bites from each project, and add small parts, even tiny ones (look up telephone number for piezoelectricity interview), from other less-urgent projects. You could choose all ten scripted parts of your day from one project, the essay on trees, for example, especially if it is looming. I almost never do. Usually I choose one finishable part from several different projects, for the variety. It's up to you.

4. Arrange the parts one through ten. One must be done first. I vary the method. Some days I start with the most difficult, or the three toughest immediately. Other days I do less daunting ones first, depending on how I feel, especially if I have some very difficult work coming up, because finishing a couple of easy ones raises my morale and confidence, which is the real currency of writing.

My normal mode is to intersperse easy with difficult. Work-wise it doesn't matter, because I'm going to get through all ten during my workday anyway.

If I had the exact same ten items to each day, the order of the work would be different from day to day, depending on how I'm feeling and what's going on in my life.

5. Start with number one on your list. Get started, get it done, and cross it off or remove it from your list. Then you're ready to go after number two. Remember, no deviating, and no skipping around. This will be very difficult at first, because you'll discover you've probably underestimated the difficulty of one part of your work, or how long it might take you. In that case, break the work up even further, and do only the first part. As your familiarity with the division process increases, you'll figure out just how much work you should stuff into each of your ten scripted numbers to make sure you can finish all ten each day, because that's a real ego boost.

My scripted list for today looks like this:

1. Make to do's list.

2. Find topic for next Farm Collector article

3. Find telephone number for contact for No. 2

4. Find pictures on computer for The Lutheran article

5. Caption five pictures from No. 5

6. Write first paragraph of query on Tasmania

7. Put away 20 items from desk pile at right

8. Do one rewrite of piece on Detailed Evolution of One Long Essay

9. Caption five more pictures for The Lutheran article.

10. Do final rewrite of The Lutheran article.

6. Make Adjustments.

Though I make it sound like the Bill Walsh Factor script is written in stone, there are times-- only certain times-- that it must be altered. A call from an editor alters my list; my cat throwing up on the hall carpet alters my list; my having forgotten to include something that must be done today alters my list. But these all happen rarely, so mostly my list stays the same each day, from one to ten.

Some days I don't finish all ten items. Then I add the items to the next day's list, and get them done.

One of the major pieces of advice I would suggest is that you adjust this list to fit your life: if you only have an hour to write, script three things, or only two, whatever works best for you. Make the list and method work for you.

The reason I turned to this list is because as I'm creating, my mind, like most writer's minds I'd suspect, is constantly flitting around, and it can easily get off track, especially when I see the bright shining star of an idea that wants to lead me down a different, and seemingly for the moment, more fun path. (I do stop to jot down new ideas, but then I turn back to my list.) This little list helps prevent that.

Moreso, the little list with the Bill Walsh Factor will help you plan your day, keep you on track, reduce stress, increase willpower, and feel a sense of accomplishment as you cross items out or delete them. And most important of all, get your writing work done.

Bill Vossler has published more than 2,600 articles in 170 magazines, as well as 11 books.

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