Setting Aside Time to Write

 

Photo Credit: Ron Lach via Pexels

 

As someone who spends Monday through Friday setting aside time for Twisted Dreams Press as well as working on anything related to the newsletter and reading books I am reviewing, it can be a struggle to find the time to work on my own writing: Books, short stories, poetry, essays, articles, and anything else my creativity comes up with.

 

But the thing of it is, we don’t really find the time for the important things in our lives. We MAKE the time for them.

 

So, at the end of the day, even if I’m tired or physically drained, I still made time to get some writing done this week. I have reviewed all the work I have got done this week (so far!) and I was happy to see that, in spite of everything else I had to do, I still made time to work on my own writing.

 

I am currently revising a short story and I got some VERY helpful feedback from a reader on things to add to this story, so I have been working on making those additions.

 

I have been revising my book, 365 Tips for Writers, because it is currently out of print, but I am at the stage where I am not only revising it, but adding more to it as well. This is necessary in order to make the new format of this book work. So, I made time to get some writing done for this book as well.

 

And of course, I’ve worked on the two articles I needed to finish writing this week. One is finished and sent off to the editor. The other one is almost done; I hope to complete it by Sunday, 3/29. I made time to write in these articles as well. And even on those days, I also got some writing done in one of my WIPs (I am working on several books) or something of my own to write (such as poetry!).

 

I have noticed that some people who work in publishing have said that they feel guilty if they set aside time for their own writing. I think this is nothing to feel guilty about. If you are a writer, you owe it to yourself to set aside time to write. Don’t give your whole time to the job in publishing. It is not the only thing that you are. You are also a writer, and you are doing yourself a disservice if you don’t set aside time to write. Just as you are also a student or spouse or parent, etc. You need to manage your time so that you are able to have a slot of time for each of the things that are a part of your life.

 

This is why I stick to “business hours” with the press – well, usually. Last night, for instance, I remembered an anthology we plan to announce an open call for in the near future, so last night, I emailed a writer who submitted a story for an anthology that wasn’t right for it to let him know about this project, and ask if he wanted a spot in it. I wanted to do this before I forgot to do this (again!). But usually, yes, I stick to “business hours” with the press. Once I am done for the day, I am done. And THEN I can focus on my own stuff.

 

Having business hours and sticking to them is the key to being able to still do other things with your life when it comes to a job or career. Don’t let your job in publishing take up all of your time during the workday. By sticking to business hours, there is no reason to feel guilty about spending time working on your own writing. If you are a writer, you need to write.

 

And you need to make that time to write, too. If you only have five minutes to write, then use that five minutes to write. That’s what I did this week no matter how busy it was and you should try to do that too. It is YOUR time to manage and figure out how to spend it.

 

If you are able to spend your free time writing, then write.

 

But some people will think, “Oh, I can’t concentrate on the writing right now” or “I don’t feel like writing.” But, maybe you can? And maybe you do? Try it. Try writing something in a journal, write a few sentences in your WIP or try writing some notes for a piece you need to write.

 

I did, and I feel a lot better that I still got some writing done every day this week. Any week that I am able to write every day is certainly a good one, so make it a good week for yourself too when it’s Monday again and get writing. 

 

Remember, what you write doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be written.

How Breaking Down My Writing Goal Boosted My Productivity and Helped Me Complete More Writing Projects

 

 

Whenever a week ends, I spend time reviewing the work I managed to get done as it was recorded in my planner. If I didn’t do a certain thing that week, I’d make a note to get it done next week. One thing I often noticed when I did this last year was that I wasn’t getting as much work done on my books as I would have liked. Yes, I did manage to write a poetry book and a few children’s books last year, but not much else.

 

So I made a decision that this would change in the new year.

 

In the early days of my writing, I would make it a point to write, revise and edit something every day – because I often had a lot of material to write, revise and edit! This was especially true when I got to the point where I wrote a bunch of books and didn’t do much else with them.  

 

So before the new year started, I developed one writing goal: To work on at least one of my books every day. And not only this, but I decided that what I would do is write, revise and edit a book every day. Because I DO have book manuscripts that need to be written, revised and edited!

 

I was not specific about this new goal, however, so I made sure I wrote exactly what I would write, revise and edit.

 

 

However, as I began to execute this plan, I realized that the order of my tasks did not work for me. So I changed them around since I’m more creative in the mornings.

 

Thanks to having this breaking down of my writing goal, I have managed to get writing done in a book every day. I have even gotten work done in two books in a single day. I think that making working on my books a priority may have created the mindset to get ‘er done every day, but I would like to think that my writing goal for this year may have helped too.

 

But unfortunately, there are going to be days when I can only get work done on one book – be it the writing, revising or editing. I realized this when that very day came along this week.

 

 

One of the things that I REALLY like about this arrangement is that, no matter what happens in my day, I will STILL get some work done on my writing goal: Focusing on writing a book. That Tuesday that I was unable to do ANY other writing? I still got some writing done in a book, because I worked on it first thing in the morning.

 

And that’s one other thing I realized as I put this writing goal into practice: The mornings are the best time for me to write. Yes, there are some mornings when I wake up feeling like death (and I learned to switch around my routine on just such occasions), but for the mornings when I wake up feeling refreshed and energized, I get to the desk and start writing! So if I get the writing in a book done in the morning, then at least I got THAT done even if I can’t do the other things.

 

But as I moved through my days going about this routine, I had to ask myself something: What about all the other things that I need to write, revise and edit? I have a bunch of short stories, essays, articles and poems that I need to write, revise and edit as well. Heck, I have a whole LIST of books and short stories to write!

 

I could not neglect these things.

 

So I revised my writing goal just a bit, and in the process, took advantage of that time I was setting aside to write, revise and edit. For each session, I would also write, revise and edit whatever other thing I had on the table that needed this kind of attention. Sometimes I will write, revise and edit more than one thing if I have the time and energy.

 

 

 

I love this arrangement SO MUCH BETTER than the original one. Because even if there is no writing done in a book, the writing, revising and editing will still happen that day, just for other things. Like with today, for example. I didn’t write in the book I started writing this year. Instead, I interviewed a couple of people for it. But this is for the book, so something was still done for a book I’m writing. And I STILL did some writing – in this blog post and also in an article I plan to finish writing today. So the writing, revising and editing still happens each day even if that writing, revising and editing doesn’t happen for a book.

 

So far, this routine is going well in helping me to achieve my writing goal. But it also did something else: It boosted my productivity.

 

BEFORE:

  

AFTER: 

 

Thanks to this boost in productivity, I am getting more work done every day and I am moving ever-closer to FINALLY completing the work on other writing projects too. For example, there is one short story I really needed to finish revising, but I just worked on it whenever I had the time. Or remembered to work on it. Now that I make revising short stories a priority, I revise them, edit them, and send them off. Then I move on to the next one!

 

This has shown in my work on the books too. I get more work done on them faster and can move on to the next book to work on in better time.

 

And because I have other things going on – reviewing books, doing research for my various projects, working on my newsletter and of course the work for the press – I made it a point to start working on those in between my writing, revising and editing sessions. This has helped me to achieve balance in meeting certain obligations while also working on my books and other writing projects.

 

This type of arrangement may not be for everyone, but it works for me, and I’m thrilled with how well it has helped me complete work on books and writing projects on a much better timeline than I had before. Breaking down my writing goal has really helped me figure out the best way to achieve it. As long as I follow the structure, I will finish working on my books and get more writing done for other things too.   

Working in a Loop

 

You know how you want something to happen, but you can’t figure out HOW to make it happen?

 

You know, how you get tired of something not going the way you want it to for so long? That frustration over Once. Again. Not working on a goal that you hope to accomplish?

 

That happened to me recently, with my ability to work on my books. I just couldn’t figure out how to find the time to work on them on top of everything else I was doing. Weeks and then months would go by when I would look back to see what I had gotten done each week, and very rarely was I satisfied with the amount of work I was getting done on my books.

 

I have several WIPs in different stages of production. I have books to write, books to revise, and books to edit. (Yes, they’re all mine.) So, yes, I was getting frustrated that I wasn’t spending enough time working on any of them. If I didn’t get these books ready to submit, they would just sit there, unfinished, forever!

 

And I didn’t want that.

 

See, in addition to my books to work on, I also have a backlog of books to review. (Many thanks to all the authors for their patience with me!) I also have to make time for my new gig. Plus, I try to get something “freelance writing” done every Monday through Friday. So it was hard to find time to work on the books. My morning writing usually went to writing other stuff – mostly, stuff for the freelance writing.

 

So as July came to an end, I told myself, “August will be different.” Even though I didn’t know HOW it would be different.

But somehow, the universe figured that out for me.

 

The first day of August rolled around and, do you know what happened? I was able to work on some of my books! I was hoping to spend time working on 10 WIPs (there are many more!), but I was only able to work on four.

 

But, that’s okay! That is STILL work done on my books!

 

Here’s how I made it happen:

 

I made a list of what books I NEED to get done soon. One of them has a deadline and another is for an open call that will be rolling around soon. A third is for a new imprint I’m hoping to have ready in time for Valentine’s Day. And, et cetera. You get the idea.

 

Then, on August 1st, I started my day working on the book that is at the top of my list. After I finished, I started reading one of the seven books I am reviewing, which I also listed, in order of priority. After that, I would tackle any one of these things: Something related to freelance writing, work on the newsletter, something to write and work in any one of my “weekly” things like posting on my horror blog or writing something for the Substack (which will now be sent out on the weekends).

 

Then I would go back to working on the next book on my list and repeat the other things.

 

As for any of the other WIPs and other books on both lists which I am not able to get to during the week, I’ll work on them during the weekends! In addition to the other weekend stuff which I usually do.

 

This method is working well so far. I am STILL able to tend to my other writing responsibilities while getting work done on my books.

 

And because I like to keep myself accountable, at the end of the day, I write down how many books I was able to spend time reviewing. This is why I keep the ones with deadlines at the top of my list. As long I get some work done on THOSE, then it was a good day.

 

It’s a system that works for me, and I’m so happy to be moving forward on my books again. I’m just thrilled that I’m able to work on my books as often as I would like to.

 

It’s a method that works for me, and if you too have been stuck in trying to figure out how to find time for a project, I hope you find a method that works for you too.