Working out a writing schedule

This is the top-level view of my book:

• Introduction (20 pages)
• Chapter 1: Introducing the Project (10 pages)
• Chapter 2: The Product Data Store (20 pages)
• Chapter 3: User Authentication (50 pages)
• Chapter 4: Product Management (80 pages)
• Chapter 5: Product Pages (50 pages)
• Chapter 6: The Shopping Cart (100 pages)
• Chapter 7: Checkout (150 pages)
• Chapter 8: Personalization (100 pages)
• Chapter 9: Deployment, Monitoring and Management (50 pages)

My next task is to work out a writing schedule to accomplish these chapters. This is my first book, so I am on a steep learning curve.

Aside from community commitments, I will be devoting my weekends to writing and my weekday evenings to preparation, editorial and revisions.

I will backload the Introduction and Chapter 1. Luckily Chapters 2 to 4 form an ‘up ramp’ in terms of page count, which I hope will allow me to accelerate into the writing rather than needing to be at high velocity from the start (an objective I would be unlikely to achieve). Another piece of luck is that the UK Bank Holiday season falls right in the middle of the schedule, just at the point where I have the largest pieces of work to accomplish.

So, thinking in units of ‘weekend’ my initial plan is as follows:

• Feb 28 = Environment Prep & Ancillary Tasks
• Mar 07 = Chapter 2: The Product Data Store (20 pages)
• Mar 14 = Chapter 3: User Authentication (50 pages)
• Mar 21 = Chapter 4: Product Management (80 pages)
• Mar 28 = Chapter 4: Product Management (80 pages) [Open Space Coding Day]
• Apr 04 = Chapter 5: Product Pages (50 pages) [DDD Belfast]
• Apr 11 = Chapter 6: The Shopping Cart (100 pages) [Easter Bank Holidays]
• Apr 18 = Chapter 6: The Shopping Cart (100 pages)
• Apr 25 = Chapter 6: The Shopping Cart (100 pages)
• May 02 = Chapter 7: Checkout (150 pages) [DDD Scotland], [May Day Bank Holiday]
• May 09 = Chapter 7: Checkout (150 pages)
• May 16 = Chapter 7: Checkout (150 pages)
• May 23 = Chapter 8: Personalization (100 pages) [Whitsun Bank Holiday]
• May 30 = Chapter 8: Personalization (100 pages) [Open Space Coding Day]
• Jun 06 = Chapter 9: Deployment, Monitoring and Management (50 pages)
• Jun 13 = Introduction, Chapter 1
• Jun 20 = (manuscript)

A tough schedule, I know, but I really want this book out on the shelves by the time that PDC ‘09 rolls around.