Set Yourself Up for Success this Fall with a Writing Routine that Works for You
I don’t know about you, but as a mom-writer, I find it bittersweet when summer ends and the kids return to school. Gone are the days of unstructured family time and fun summer activities. Gone are the days of intermittent writing sprees and leisurely reading. Once summer ends, it’s time for everyone to get back into a routine, and usually, the routine requires more discipline than the “I’ll get to it when I can” mentality of summer.
Whether you have children or not, summer is notorious for disrupting everyday schedules. Perhaps being conditioned from a young age to think of summer as a carefree time continues to impact our mentality presently. Regardless of the reason, entering the fall season requires getting back on the horse of productivity, tightening the reins, and galloping toward our goals— “giddy up” writers.
Now that summer is officially coming to an end (welp), it’s time to get disciplined, reestablish writing goals, and set up a writing routine to keep you on track.
The calendar is your Friend: Creating a one week Time log
I can see your eyes roll as you read the title of this section. I get it; tracking one’s time sounds as pleasant as siting through a Steven Seagal movie. As if there isn’t enough to do, now you have to police your time. However, in order to know how much time you have available to write, you must first know how much time you spend elsewhere.
It’s also worth noting, once you become a published and successful author, your agent and publisher will want to know how long it will take you to write your next bestseller. Having this baseline of time allows you to provide an educated guess.
First, pick a week to track your time that is relatively reflective of your average week. Don’t pick the week of a big event as this would not provide an accurate baseline.
Keep track of your time in categories
Life is busy, and if you were to calculate time spent on every task, the data would reveal an incoherent list of items that would be too overwhelming to decipher or put to good use. Instead, combine tasks into categories and round up to the half hour.
Here are some examples of task categories:
Work: Meetings, Continuing education, Emails, Phone Calls, Travel, Commuting
Family Time: Pick up and drop off, Extracurricular activities, Help with homework, Hosting Playdates, Fun family activities, Date with spouse, Caring for older parents
Life Maintenance: Making meals, Eating, Sleeping, Showering, Exercise, Laundry, Grocery Shopping, Paying Bills
Personal: Self-care, Therapy, Socialization, Hobbies
Writing: Editing, Reading, Research, Outlining, Writing, Continuing education
Screen Time: Social media, Surfing the internet, T.V., Gaming
Log your time on a spreadsheet, journal, or calendar – whatever works for you. Once you have tallied your time for each category, type it up in whichever format you choose and refer to it during the following sections.
Determine your writing project goals
Now that you know how much time you have to write during the week, the next piece to figure out is the expected word count for your project. For example, if you are writing a self-help book, 60,000 words is an average word count.
If you want to blog regularly or do freelance work, estimate how many projects you want to take on and the expected word count for those projects. Blog posts tend to hover between 800-2000 words. Freelance projects range from marketing blurbs to ghostwriting entire books, so familiarize yourself with project expectations and word counts.
Now that you know the expected word count and the time available to write, you know what you can accomplish in a week. If you typically write 1,000 words daily for a non-fiction project, you can produce 30,000 words by the end of the month. If you write 3,000 words of fiction weekly, you will have 12,000 words by the end of the month.
Set a deadline
Set a deadline for your goals. Stating you want to write a manuscript will feel different than telling yourself you want to complete a first draft of your manuscript by 09/08/20XX.
Deadlines work like targets. It gives you something to aim for and helps keep you on track. If you don’t meet your deadline, don’t beat yourself up. Instead, hold yourself accountable and adjust the date to a more realistic deadline. As you gain more experience, setting deadlines will get easier as you learn your average output.
Set deadlines for big goals first
Set a deadline for your larger goal and then break down the steps to reach that goal. Set a deadline for each of those smaller steps.
For example: Publish Book
Goals Deadline
Brainstorm ideas 09/15/20XX
Research
Write an outline
Write opening scene
Write chapters 2-5
Finish Act 1
Write chapters 11-15
Finish Act 2
Write chapters 21-26
Finish Act 3
Complete first draft
Developmental edit
Light line edit
Send manuscript to Beta Readers
Revise using feedback
Send to copy editor/proofreader
Research agents
Write synopsis and query
Pitch to agents
Sign with an agent
Sign with a publisher
Final edits
Set a schedule
Now that you know how many hours a week you can devote to writing, and the goals you want to accomplish, get out your calendar. You may find it helpful to have one universal calendar that covers all your obligations and a separate calendar for writing. Cross off any days you know you won’t be writing (wedding, travel, surgery...). Highlight the days you intend to write.
You may not have the luxury of choosing the time of day you write. However, it’s important to note that an hour of writing at the peak of your creativity, focus, and energy level will be more efficient and produce better material than three hours of writing when you feel fatigued. If you can arrange your schedule so you write during your best hours, this will help maintain your stamina and motivation.
If you can’t arrange your writing time during your optimal energy level, that’s okay. Don’t despair. With repetition, your brain will get the signal that the time allotted for writing is the time to be productive, and you will notice less resistance and more productivity with practice.
Depending on your style, some writers like to write daily as it helps them stay connected to their characters and stories. Other writers prefer to write in bursts, like on the weekend, at a retreat, or during certain days of the week. Some writers find it helpful to assign specific days to certain writing tasks, such as reserving Fridays for edits and Saturdays for research.
Experiment with your writing schedule to determine what works best for you.
Accountability
Argh, the dreaded word “accountability.” It’s challenging enough to be an adult these days without adding more tasks to which we must hold ourselves accountable. However, if you are a writer without a strict deadline from an employer, publisher, or agent, you must hold yourself accountable.
True confession: Just because I’m a writing coach doesn’t mean I have accountability nailed down. I find it challenging to wear different writing hats, as various projects require different levels of creativity and inspiration. While maintaining accountability comes easy for me when I have an employer or a client, I find it challenging to hold myself accountable regarding my writing for future publication.
If you struggle with accountability as I do, there are several options to help. If your budget is limited, a cost-effective solution is to work with another writer and create a mutual agreement around accountability. This can be very helpful for people who enjoy camaraderie with other writers.
If meeting with someone else feels intimidating or undesirable, there are now apps that act as accountability partners. FocusWriter is a free desktop app that helps writers stay on track with their goals and limits distractions. Ulysses helps writers monitor their progress and has more robust features, such as formatting tools to turn your pages into an e-book.
If you prefer one-on-one personalized attention, a writing coach is helpful as they provide support and guidance specific to you and your project. They will help with accountability and setting deadlines; some, such as myself, also offer writing assistance, help with outlining, developmental edits, and more.
I use a combination of the above, including a writing coach. Yes, this coach has a coach.
Writing Rituals
As you develop your writing routine you will notice there will be plenty of distractions and opportunities to draw your attention away from writing. I’ve found certain writing rituals helpful for keeping writers focused and energized as they write.
Meditating for fifteen to twenty minutes before writing is helpful for clearing the mind and eliminating the outside noise. Going for a walk or being in nature provide similar relaxation benefits. Exercise such as yoga, running, or swimming also help to ground your mind in preparation to write.
Where you write is also important to helping you stay committed to your routine. Do you prefer writing in shared spaces such as coffee shops? Do you enjoy working outside? Determine your preferred space.
If you don’t have the luxury of having a designated space to write and have to use the kitchen table at night, set up your space to signal this space is reserved for writing. Designate a basket to hold your supplies so that you can pack and unpack easily. A candle, colorful pens, notepads, and an inspirational quote or picture offer visual cues to you and those around you that this is your writing space.
My first writing space was in my walk-in closet (affectionately referred to as the cloffice). It had a window, a shelf, and I could lock my kids out. Get creative and carve out a space for your work.
Mindset
As with anything, your attitude is your greatest asset to achieving your desired success. The good news is that a consistent writing routine will bolster your confidence and motivation. Likewise, your confidence and motivation will support your writing routine.
Get started now
Swimmers waiting on the starting block don’t swim until they hear the shotgun. What do you need to get started? If writing is your goal this season, treat it like a profession. Even if you can only devote a handful of hours to writing each week, small time segments add up.
At first glance, writing 1,000 hours a week may not seem like much, but at the end of the year, that’s 52,000 words – a book. Your 1,000 words a week may be far superior to someone else’s 14,000 words a week, so don’t let someone else’s pace make you question your talent. After all, the turtle won the race, not the hare.
Just get started. As Jodi Picoult says, “You can’t edit a blank page.” There will be adjustments as you refine your routine, just have patience with yourself and remember there is no time like the present to begin working toward achieving your dreams.
