Finding time for your writing
As a writer, it can be incredibly difficult to find time for all the things that need to be done to ensure that your work is not only researched, written and edited perfectly, but that you also have enough surplus time for social media, blogging, maintaining your author website, making public appearances and so on.
If you’re a self-publisher, you have even more on your plate in terms of design, print and ebook production, marketing and publicity. You may also have a part-time or full-time job and a family to fit into the mix, as well as your own hobbies and interests. It’s no wonder that many writers give up after the first few months or collapse from sheer exhaustion!
The standard and sage advice to writers who find themselves spinning too many plates is to either a) delegate or b) use their time more productively. Assuming that you have a limited budget and the first option is out of the question for now, let’s focus this blog post on the latter – in particular, how to use a writing schedule and what to include within it.
What is a writing schedule?
As the name suggests, a writing schedule is a diary-like tool that you can use to make sure you allocate sufficient time to your writing work. Using a writing schedule takes forward planning and a fair bit of dedication, but done well can really help to make your time more productive and ensure that you cover all the bases.
You can use anything you like for your schedule, from a paper-based diary or a wall chart to an Excel spreadsheet or an online scheduling tool. In the past I have tended to use Excel but recently have been using a tool called Team Up Calendar, which is a free online tool where you can create multiple colour-coded calendars. You can find it here: http://www.teamup.com/. The important thing is to find something that doesn’t take long to edit and update and that you are comfortable with using.
What should you include in your writing schedule?
Before you complete your schedule, it’s important to block out the time you will be spending doing other things. So make sure you’ve allocated time for the shopping, for your gym class or for picking the children up from school. Being realistic at the outset is one of the keys to making a writing schedule work effectively.
Although all writers have different types of work and styles of working, here is a quick run-down of the things that should form the backbone of every writer’s schedule:
- Work on current project/s
This should, of course, take up a large proportion of your time. After all, if you’re not spending your time writing new material, you’re not really a writer! But on a serious note, it’s surprisingly easy to fall into the trap of getting so wrapped in everything else that you have little time for the physical writing. Always schedule this in first.
- Finding more work
Depending on what type of writing you do, some of your time may be dedicated to finding more writing projects, sourcing commissioned work or planning and researching future books or articles. While some writers like to finish one project before commencing another, there are a lot of others who like to have several projects on the go simultaneously. Since all this takes time, it needs to be added to your writer’s schedule.
- Social media
It is important these days to have a strong presence on the main social media platforms, so you will need to schedule in time for writing new updates, moderating comments, replying to followers and so on. Timetable this in and stick to it. Little and often is the trick here. If necessary, set a timer to remind you to do this every three or four hours throughout the day (or however often you plan to do this), and only allow yourself 10 or 15 minutes at a time doing this.
Scheduling in your social media updates (including blogposts) using a service such as HootSuite can be a real time-saver and also means that you can post to multiple social media accounts in one go where appropriate. Some authors have a separate schedule just for social media.
- Blogging
Blog posts should ideally be planned and written in advance. This saves you from a) being inconsistent with the frequency of your posts, b) being inconsistent with the balance of your posts over time, and c) going into a blind panic when you realise you haven’t posted anything for three months and somebody important is about to check your blog! It also means that you can write posts that are tailored to specific times of year or events. If doing this, don’t forget to adjust your posts if anything happens in the news relating to the topic of your advance posts or if there are updates to be included.
If you plan well in advance, you should be able to allocate time once a week to write posts that you can then save in a folder and schedule (see above) to be published on a particular date. Make sure you keep track of which posts are being published when – I include this on my writing schedule too, in a different colour.
- Marketing and publicity
Even if you’re published by a traditional publishing house, you will be called upon to take responsibility for at least part of the marketing and publicity of your publications, and all this can take up a large proportion of your time. Set a certain amount of time perhaps once a week for maintaining your website, speaking with bookshops, carrying out author visits, talking with book groups and so on. The type and amount of time spent on this will vary depending on the kind of material you create, on how popular your work is and at which stage of the publishing process you are.
Making your writing schedule work
The above focuses on five areas only, but there may well be more. Some of the most important things to remember are to:
- Build in flexibility – Things will happen that will mess up your schedule. That’s just life. Be prepared to chop and change things around.
- Build in breaks – Don’t forget to include lunch and cup-of-tea-and-biscuit breaks!
- Make sure it’s do-able – If your schedule isn’t realistic, you won’t be able to achieve everything on it and you’ll end up feeling like a failure. Keep it simple to start with. You can always add extra items later.
- Reward yourself for sticking to your schedule – You could keep a list of all the things you’ve achieved since starting your schedule. After a while your list will grow and looking back on it will make you feel good about how much you’ve done! And every now and then, give yourself an extra treat for your increased productivity!
Hopefully you are now inspired to try out using a writing schedule yourself. Or perhaps you already have your own tips and techniques for keeping your writing time productive. If so, do please comment below – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
To find out more about Callisto Green and our services for writers, visit our shiny new website at www.callistogreen.com (where you can also download a FREE EBOOK written by me, Vicki Watson!), or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Pinterest.
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Reblogged this on theowlladyblog.
Thank you for some excellent advice. I appreciate how you’ve split up blogging and social media – both build an on-line presence, yet are completely different tasks.
Do you have any specific advice for someone who hasn’t yet quit their day job? Juggling two careers adds an extra dimension to planning, in my experience.
The Noveling Novice