Writing in Space and Time

You're running out of time...tick-tock, tick-tock.  Writers have a lot of responsibilities outside of creating a compelling story.  There are the queries, the proposals, revisions...and if you're awaiting a book release..Oy vey!  Marketing, promotion, travel -- all of these things have to fit into your schedule. 

Problem is...when do you write? When do you pound out another 350+ page book? When do you block out the chapters? When do you do your research?

Writing to be published, not for a hobby, is a job. A full time job.  You have to commit hours to it.  Whether it's during your kid's naptime, after work, or during your beloved television show...you have to put in the hours at the computer to make any real progress. 

An agent once told me that writers under contract are expected to produce a book every 4-6 months.  Months, people, from research to revisions.  Whew! Sounds daunting...but it can be done, is done regularly by authors everyday. The way to do that is to have a schedule. An iron-clad, cannot-alter, leave-me-to-do-my-work schedule. And you have to commit to it.

 

Now, few of us can quit our day jobs to concentrate solely on honing our craft. But most of us can fine-tune our time management.

It's helpful to set a goal, a deadline, and meet it as if your advance depended on it. Because if all goes well, you will have to be able to do this for real one day. This is not as hard as it seems with some little tweaks to your work habits, you can do it.

• Be reasonable. Don't try to pound out 300 pages in three months. You'll burn out and probably end up burning the manuscript.  Try 10 pages in ten days, a chapter in a week, or a scene a day.
• Write it down. Pick a day to be finished with revisions, line editing, everything having to do with your manuscript. Mark the date your calendar.  Treat it like a a publisher's deadline. Don't fudge it...don't go easy on yourself...meet the deadline like the professional you are.
• Block things off. Do research when you need it.  If you don't absolutely need to know the tensile strength of suspension bridges yet...wait until you're ready to write that scene to do it. Nothing throws a writer off on a tangent faster than "research" that ends up in a webcrawl through Failblog or YouTube.
• Track your time. There is a cool pdf tracker here for free. Write down the hours you spend actually writing your story. Not revising, not "tweaking a scene", not polishing a query...but writing new stuff. 

**And blogfest entries DO NOT count. Research and edits don't count, but build them into your timeline so can finish by your "deadline."**

• Clear a space. Painters set up near windows. Photographers have darkrooms. You need a writing space. A place where you can write without interuptions. That can be in your room with the headphones on, or in a coffeeshop that none of your friends go to. It takes a while to get into the groove of a scene. Don't cut yourself off at the knees by inviting distractions.
• And finally...Don't Procrastinate, just...don't. It not only slows you down, but stresses you out.

There are a lot of other ways to manage your time. Some online programs offer stop watches, organizers, and task trackers for free or a small fee.  Sometimes its as simple as joining a critique group that meets regularly. Knowing a group of peers are expecting your next chapter is very motivating.

What are your tricks and tips for staying on track.  What are the pitfalls that eat up your time? I'd love you hear what you have to say.

Until next time...Go Write! No, really. Go start typing.

Photograph by Michel Filion. Photograph by Cushing Memorial Library and Archives.

Photograph by antony_mayfield.

Procrastination is opportunity’s assassin. ~Victor Kiam

In a Dance With Time
Originally uploaded by it's life.

One of the hardest things to do is to motivate myself to write when it’s late at night and I’m tired. I find that if the task ahead is daunting or boring, I develop sudden addiction to the random article button on Wikipedia. My husband is the best procrastinator I have ever seen. He raises the bar in our house. I once saw him peek over a pile of ungraded tests to tell me that I just had to take a look at the graph on the computer showing the difference in deforestation rate in Haiti versus The Dominican Republic…he was serious.

Because writing is a solitary task, and I don’t have a publisher’s deadline looming, it’s sometimes hard to get my hind-quarters in gear. In light of this, I decided to ask people what they did to help curb the procrastination urge. Not just other writers, but people in general. They had some helpful advice. Now, I know that not everyone who reads this blog is a writer, but the tricks I learned are helpful for any task.

First, we need to recognize why we do it. Common reasons we avoid are the fear of failure, or the need to be perfect. But sometimes life gets all of our attention and we forget to carve out time. My favorite reason is that I’m constantly rewarding myself to do so. If I don’t work on my book, I can watch my favorite show or go meet a friend for coffee. I usually write at night after the kids are asleep, so sleep is a pretty good enticement to put off writing.

Second, we need to recognize the things we do to put off our task. Do you pretend it doesn’t exist, or convince yourself you can’t function in such a cluttered space? How about setting unrealistic stretches of time…in most instances, you don’t in fact need an entire day to do your task.

Third, we overcome these stumbling blocks with some simple tricks.
• Leave out your work. It’s a great reminder. This way, I have to see my papers, research notebooks, and plot blocks every time I pass by my desk.
• Set a reasonable goal. I can’t finish my entire book in one sitting, but I can do a chapter, or a scene. I often set page goals.
• Avoid distractions. I am a notorious web crawler. So I make sure NOT to open my browser when I’m supposed to be writing. If I need to look something up, I write it down and do research later.
• Have a deadline/appointed nagger. I meet with my writing circle every other week and we require two to three chapters. This is highly motivating. I’m accountable to someone taking time out of their day to meet with me. I want to be prepared.
• Understand that there are consequences either way. If I put things off, I will have a nagging feeling in my gut. I’ll get stressed because I know I should be further along in my work. On the other hand, consequences to not putting it off are relief. I feel accomplished and hopeful. I get ice cream.

Putting these tips into action helps me to stay on task. What are you tricks to combat procrastination? Let me know. Until then…Get To Work!