Addicted to Writing: Kelly Stone, part 2

(note from CJ: this is Part 2 of Kelly Stone's guest posts. For Part 1 on Finding Time to Write, click Here. Leave a comment on today's post for a chance to win!)

Time Management for Writers Part 2: Seven Writing Schedules of Successful Authors

One of the characteristics of successful authors is that they write no matter what. How do they do that? By using a schedule. That’s what you’re striving for, too. Getting to your desk to write needs to become automatic, a natural, normal part of your routine.  In other words, writing needs to be a habit.

Habits are formed and strengthened only by repetition. When you have a concrete schedule in front of you, you are driven to fulfill the schedule, and each time you follow through on it, your writing habit gets stronger.

Flexibility has to be there to alter your schedule if you need to in order to deal with true emergencies, but thankfully, those are rare. It's the daily distractions that are the bane of the developing writer: the e-mails, the chatty neighbors, the bills that need paying, the grass that needs cutting, the kitchen floor that needs mopping. Schedules give you a genuine reason to say you've got something else to do right now, because it's your writing time. Writing as a permanent space holder in your day will give you the mental motivation to get to your desk. Schedules help you say "no" to those daily distractions.                                 

The flexibility of schedules can also help you write no matter what. When people think of schedules, they tend to think of rigid structures like TV listings, or doctor's appointments, or meetings at work. In reality, all schedules are flexible. How many times has your favorite program been pre-empted for a special sports event, or the doctor was running late due to another emergency, or a meeting at work was pushed back by an hour because someone was handling another problem that came up at the last minute? Not often, but it does happen.

So there will be rare times when you have to be flexible with your writing schedule—perhaps you’d planned on writing for an hour but you get called in to work, or your hot water heater breaks, or your child becomes ill. In situations like that, what the professional writers I interviewed try to do is keep some semblance of their writing schedule, even if they get in less time than they had originally planned. Maybe they'd scheduled sixty minutes of writing, but they only get in thirty. At least they got that thirty minutes done.

 

A Writing Schedule Holds You Accountable

The invisible power of a writing schedule is that it gives you a way to hold yourself accountable. It makes writing time important. It’s not the, “I’ll do if it I have time” chore that gets shoved to the back burner every time something else comes up. Just like going to your job or cooking dinner, there may be days when you don’t feel up to it, but you do it anyway. You feel better about yourself with every schedule you successfully complete. Your Burning Desire to Write has been fulfilled. That motivates you to follow through the next time, which ingrains writing as a habit. That causes your writing productivity to soar.

A writing schedule also taps the power of your subconscious mind, the true source of your Muse. By writing on a schedule, you are gradually building a bridge from your conscious mind to the wellspring of your creativity. The writing habit lets your mind know, "okay, it's time to write," and when that time rolls around, it's ready to spring into action. Rather than expelling your energy by wrangling with yourself about actually sitting down to write, your schedule has made the act of getting to your desk a habit, so therefore your attention is freed up to focus on creative content instead. Then, even if you only have fifteen minutes to write, you will make maximum use of that time because your creative well will be primed.

This process strengthens over time. The more you follow through on your schedule, the more writing becomes a habit, and your creative momentum builds.

Writing Schedules That Work if You Work ‘em

Following are 7 writing schedules that the professional writers I interviewed used before, and after, they were career published.

Schedule #1: The Early Morning Writer

             This schedule involves getting up before dawn and writing for a few hours before the others in the household get up or before you have to leave for work or to tend to your other duties.

            TIP: If are concerned about your ability to suddenly get up before dawn, start slow. Set your alarm clock backwards in five-minute increments each morning over the course of two weeks. Even though you’ll only have a few minutes to write for the first few days, practice getting up as soon as the alarm rings and go straight to your desk and start writing. After moving your rising time backward by five minutes for two weeks, you’ll be getting up about an hour earlier. Keep pushing the alarm back until you are getting in the amount of time you want to write.

Schedule #2: The After-Hours Writer

Some people feel more creative after midnight. If that’s you, this may be your writing schedule. 

TIP: You may forget to start writing. Set an alarm to remind you when it’s time to get your desk and begin.

Schedule #3: The Office Writer (Before Work and After Work)

Take your laptop or notebook to a park, coffee shop, or library close to your office and write for an hour or two before the work day begins and after it ends. 

TIP: Create an “office on the go” in a portable bag to ensure that you will have all your material with you.

Schedule #4: The Blitz Writer

The Blitz Writer schedules herself to write for long periods of time but less frequently. It’s an effective strategy for those who prefer to work in longer, more intense spurts, and those who cannot fit writing into their daily routine. This writer writes in a minimum of 4 hour blocks of time and up to 12 hour blocks of time.  For most people, this will be on weekends, days off from work, and/or holidays.

TIP: A Blitz writer has to make up for time lost during the week. Plan ahead so that you will have everything that you need within easy access, such as research notes, paper, printer cartridges, highlighters, food and snacks, coffee or tea, bottled water, pens or pencils, and any other supplies you use when writing. What you don’t want on that day of Blitz writing is to have to leave your desk to go out and get something.

Schedule #5: The Mini-Blocks-of-Time Writer

Writing for 10-15 minutes at various intervals during the day, usually in between other tasks. Get an egg timer and set it for 10-15 minutes, then write non-stop during your mini-block of time.

TIP: Actively look for 10-15 minute blocks of time in your daily schedule. You will discover that there are blocks of time that you weren’t previously aware of that you can use for writing: scrutinize your schedule for these “pockets” of time and use them to write.

Schedule #6: The Commuting Writer

If you take public transportation, this is writing on your commute. You can write as well as doing the following activities:

• Print out pages of your work-in-progress and edit them
• Jot down plot points for a novel or short story
• Draft an article or organize your research
• Brainstorm ideas
• Write a poem
• Create character composites by making notes of other commuters’ clothing, hairstyles, and snippets of conversation
• Organize a database of agents, editors, or magazine markets to submit your work to

Schedule #7: The Any-Opportunity or Combo Writer

Writing whenever the opportunity presents itself, for however long is possible. This schedule requires that you keep your WIP handy at all times and that you pounce on every possibility to write that becomes available. You cannot let a single writing moment pass.

 

TIP: Plan ahead as much as possible. If a block of time opens up suddenly later in the week that you hadn’t expected, mark it immediately as time to write. If an appointment cancels, use that hour to write. If you finish chores quicker than you thought you would on the weekend, spend the extra time writing.

Whatever schedule you choose, use it for six months before trying another one.

Which writing schedule will you decide to use? Leave a comment and be entered into the drawing to win a free TIME TO WRITE lecture packet.

About Kelly:
Kelly L. Stone’s (www.AuthorKellyLStone.com) novel, GRAVE SECRET (Mundania Press, September 2007) was called “powerful” and “well written” by RT Book Reviews. Her latest book for writers is LIVING WRITE: The Secret to Bringing Your Craft Into Your Daily Life (Adams Media, September 2010).

Kelly is also running a 90 day writing challenge over on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Kelly-L-Stones-90-Day-Writing-Challenge/

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