Tips For Creating A Writing Schedule
New Year, New Me.
Right? That’s the thing we’re all supposed to say to ourselves in the mirror each day or something. I mean, if I repeat it three times, does it magically poof into existence like Beetlejuice? With my luck, it would be more like Candyman. Shudder.
Then again, I’m a list maker. I make lists for everything. My spreadsheets are legendary. LEGEN-DARY. Have I been known to add things to those same lists just to be able to cross something out? Maaaybe. But, 2020 is the year I tackle my lists. I can feel it. Then again, I also feel like my husband will take out the trash before being asked or it overflows so… Hmm. Maybe I should schedule witchcraft into my new daily routine.
We all know there are only so many hours in a day. And most of those are filled with, you know, life stuff. Jobs. Kids. Friends. Dogs. Bitchy Cats. Wine. For many people, it’s tough to carve out time to just sit at the keyboard and write. It can be even harder to transition your mind and submerge yourself in your story.
So, here’s a few tips that can help you create a writing schedule that will work within your boundaries and daily life.
WHEN SHOULD YOU WRITE?
When are you most creative? Morning? After lunch? Late night?
I’m a night owl. I always have been. Even though I have the house all to myself during the day, I still find myself needing the still quiet of the night to really focus and get taken away with my writing. I have the luxury of being able to write whenever the muse calls, but I find more often than not she starts beckoning just before the witching hour.
PLAN YOUR DAY
Sit down and write out what a day or week in your life looks like. Do it hour by hour. Do you see a pattern of time that you could block out for writing? Do you have two hours in the morning you could dedicate? After dinner? Over your lunch break?
Think about when you’re most creative and see if you can give yourself a few hours every day of uninterrupted writing time.
If you’re crazy busy and there’s no give; find it. If this is your passion and what you truly want to do, find the time. You work a full time job and have seven kids? Use talk-to-text on your commute. After the kids go to bed, transcribe it. Use your lunch break. Skip the gym a few times a week. It’s there, it just might take some of that creativity to make it work into everyday life. Think of it as booking an appointment. One you can’t miss.
get rid of distractions
Ugh. These are the worst and I’m so so bad about letting distractions get in the way of writing whether it’s a manuscript or an article. I was suffering through some writer’s block and writing about it, giving oh so sage advice and I realized I really needed to take it myself.
When I’m editing a project for someone, I have no qualms about shutting everything off. My sole focus is on the manuscript or screenplay in front of me. Full stop. It’s automatic. I mean, someone is trusting me with their work, not to mention paying me so that’s what they deserve. But, when it comes to my own writing, I can be easily distracted by a hilarious DM convo or an article or politics and when I look up like three hours have passed.
A writing schedule is another way to block out those distractions. Set the time for yourself and your writing and turn everything off in that time frame. The less enticements the better.
set ATTAINABLE goals
If you have a two hour window for writing each day, you aren’t going to write five chapters. You won’t even write one. Well, unless it’s super short. But, this is okay. Say it with me, THIS IS OKAY. Don’t put pressure on yourself to write ten pages or twenty pages or even two pages. Just utilize the time you have and write. We have enough pressures, no need to add more.
Read over your prior day’s work, make any changes or corrections or brilliant thoughts that came to you while you were trying to spell your name for the barista, and then go from there. How much or little you produce doesn’t matter. You may spend the entire time perfecting those pages and that’s fine, too. All that matters is that you write.
ORGANIZE
I mentioned lists, right? If you are on a tight schedule, organization can make all the difference. Just like researching your book or screenplay - setting, characters, weapons, clothing, story, etc. - before you sit down to write, having a well-organized starting point every day is a great foundation to get you focused.
At the end of your writing session, jot down any notes you have. Any thoughts that standout to you about the story that you know you want to revisit. Where you were going with your storyline or a character - anything you think needs a reminder. And we all know we think we’ll remember, but, yeah… So, write it down.
If you want to focus on something specific the next day, write it down.
The next time you sit down, you’ll have a great jumping off point with your notes and they can help you to stay in the story even more.
Your time is valuable. By creating and sticking to a writing schedule, not only will you carve out time to write every day, but you’ll get the most out of your writing sessions.
