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It sounds simple, doesn’t it? Just pick up your laptop and start writing! If only it were so simple…
You have a job, you have personal commitments, maybe you have kids? Life is naught but a collection barriers between you and your goal. There just aren’t enough hours in the day.
The fact that you are reading this tells me that you probably suspect that there are enough hours in the day.
Everyone has their commitments; professional, personal and a plethora of others. This includes the authors that I work with and myself. I came across the following quote many years ago:
“If you really want to do something, you will find the time. If you don’t, you will find excuses.”
Unknown (probably Winston Churchill)
This phrase stuck with me. Am I sure I want to play guitar? Yes? Then I’ll find the time. Still not finding the time? Maybe it’s not as important to me as I thought. Maybe I shouldn’t give myself such a hard time for not doing it.
As I sit here writing this blog post, I am on a boat in the middle of the North Sea. I am managing a multi-million pound engineering project working twelve hour shifts (don’t worry, I am off shift). However, I really want to get a blog post written, so I am finding the time (albeit 15 minutes at a time).
Hopefully by trying out some of the following suggestions, you can prove to yourself that you were right all along, there are enough hours.
It doesn’t need to be words on a page.
One thing I try to convey is that no work is wasted. Some things you can try if you can’t get words on the page are:
Anything, it all helps. It helps get your head on straight. It takes the pressure off hitting a word count. It keeps you moving.
Sounds like diet advice.
It is easier to keep moving than it is to start moving.
15 minutes a day, doesn’t sound like much. In reality however, it’s not 15 minutes a day. Those 15 minutes writing don’t account for talking yourself into writing, booting up the laptop, musing about what to say, fending off distractions or even locating yourself somewhere that you can concentrate.
A technique I find helps me is to put points in and fill in the blanks. What are the main things you want to achieve in the chapter? Put the points in and use it as a framework. Just putting these in can inspire you and help you get started.
It can also break the next chapter or plot development into ‘bite sized’ chunks, allowing you to think through smaller sections. WARNING: This can result in additional editing to make sure it flows, but hey, that’s why I’m here!
It can be difficult to keep moving if you don’t know where you want to be, or when you want to be there. You can end up feeling like you’re drifting, directionless.
Setting goals is a great way to manage this. These goals can be:
I like big goals like this last one, but you need to be careful with them. They can be disheartening if you measure yourself against them too frequently.
Another famous quote from (probably) Winston Churchill, this is a bit of a cliché. But it is for a reason. If you follow successful people on social media (Gary Vee for example), this is a theme that comes up again and again. And your project is no different. You may reconsider your pursuit of perfection as you rewrite chapter 3 on your 14th draft.
Nobody outside your support group will see a draft. Get it done and get it out there.
An editor or writer coach can be extremely helpful for this. I mean, do you really do what you tell yourself? How did your last diet go?
An editor can be a tyrant, a good editor be a negotiator and a very good editor will be a little of both.
Until next time.
Rick
rick@bookonedone.com