You will read a lot about writers' block and what to do about it. I had another problem- I could write, but I seemed to be getting bogged down with time constraints and with the frustration that comes when finishing your novel seems to be at some undetermined point in the distance.

In my day job- which is managing services for people with severe disabilities- we had been shown how to apply 'Path Analysis' to service design in order to move things forward in order to achieve positive outcomes for those who use the service.

I had been going through a frustrating lull in my writing because I just couldn't see an end to it, although the presence of an unfinished novel into which I had put so much work was constantly niggling.

I even had recurring dreams in which I hadn't finished my university thesis, my grant was running out, and I had to decide whether or not to complete. I would wake up in a hot sweat, and it would take several minutes before I realised that I had actually completed the thing years ago.

Something had to happen!

So I used the Path method.

Take a piece of paper, and position it for landscape. At the top right hand corner draw a star. This is your North Star, the guide that you follow to reach your goal.

In my case the 'north star' was 'finish my novel.'

They do say choose a North Star for guidance, not necessarily expecting to get there- but I would rather say make it your task to get there and settle for nothing less.

The next thing to do is set a time scale. Say for instance that your novel or whatever you wish to achieve, will be completed in one year. Write that date by your goal.

No more uncertainty- you now know when it will be done.

To the right of this, write 'three months before,' and think 'if my novel ( for the sake of the argument we'll say it's the first draft) is finished one year from now, what stage should it be at three months before that? You might decide that by then you will want to have written the concluding paragraph, giving yourself three months to go back over problem passages.

To the right of this you write 'six months before.' Half way through the time scale you have set yourself, where should you be? You may already have worked out roughly how many chapters the book will run to. In that case, if your novel is, say, forty chapters in length, you might have 'completed twenty chapters' as your goal.

Do the same for three months before.

For each of these sections you should also be making notes of additional tasks that will require completion so that you can complete each section of your goal. For the final stage, for instance, you may need to make a note to buy paper and an ink cartridge- soon you will have a finished novel you will want to print off to revise and proof read. Or you may know that when you reach the nine month mark you have planned for your hero to be rescued by helicopter and, knowing nothing about helicopters, will want to do some research to add authenticity.

Finally, look at now. What stage are you at? What do you need to do now to have completed your quota of chapters within the next three months?

Just having these goals and milestones in written form can provide all the motivation you need to finish. Remember: there is only one thing worse than having an unwritten novel in your head- it's having a half written novel in a drawer!