There is nothing more satisfying than typing the final sentence of a novel that you have slaved over... sometimes for years. For most authors, finishing the book is one of, if not the largest hurdle to get over.
So how does an author who has a full time job find time to work, eat, sleep, promote their books, and still finish their novel?
That is a good question... a question most of us are still trying to answer. I answered that question in part for last week's Writing Tip Wednesday on the Battalion Press and Aly Kay Tibbitts social media accounts. I try to write an hour a day, broken up in easy to squeeze in 15 minute writing sprints.
But what about promotion? How do you remember to eat? How do you get enough sleep so you're not a zombie at work?
While I don't have the perfect solution for everyone, I can suggest something that kind of works for me: schedule writing and other various tasks, and treat it like a job.
Over the years, I have tried various different ways to schedule what hours I would be spending on my "author job."
For some people, they can do really well getting up early to write. When I first graduated from college, I thought that could be me. College showed me how much time I could have in my day, and how much I could do if I got up early. I worked the early morning shift at work (5:45am–1:45pm), drove up to the school for a 3:00–4:20pm class, then worked in the Writing Center on campus from 4:30–7:00pm.
In all honesty, my college schedule was insane, but because I spent four and a half years running from place to place, I thought if I maintained the habit, I could write at 6am for a few hours before going to work, or the gym, or whatever else I had that day. Unfortunately, I am not a morning person, so this writing schedule failed epically.
I also got burned out. FAST.
The other problem I ran into with this type of schedule, however, was writing time wasn't specifically set aside for writing. My scheduled "writing" time could be editing a manuscript, formatting a book, designing a cover, uploading a finished book to be published, social media content creation, or writing. Usually, if I actually used my scheduled writing time, I ended up paralyzed by the sheer number of things I needed to do, and ended up getting very little done with the massive chunks of time I was dedicating to my writing.
I started Battalion Press in early 2021, which has made it easier to separate writing and non-writing tasks. Any non-writing tasks fall under the purview of my "publishing" time, meaning my scheduled writing time is now exclusively for writing the ever increasing number of projects I am working on.
If you aren't crazy like me, you probably won't start your own publishing company, but that doesn't mean you can't still divide your time between "writing" and "non-writing" tasks.
Last fall, I tried scheduling my 15 minute writing sprints, so I didn't try to cram all of them into the last hour and a half of the day. It didn't work well for me, but if you are someone that can keep a schedule, this could be 100% something worth trying. At the very least, by committing to do four 15 minute writing sprints you can make sure you are slowly but surely moving towards finishing the novel. I average 250 words each sprint, so my goal is 1000 words a day. The goal is to write 5 days a week, and take off two weeks in the year (probably more than that though, because I already took off all of January). If this year, I follow this schedule, but let's say I take off 8 weeks, by the end of the year, I would have written 220,000 words.
What I have discovered is that it isn't about how much time you spend on writing, it's the quality of the time spent. I get just as much, if not more, writing done in the distraction-and-research-free 15 minute writing sprints as I do staring at my computer screen for hours on my day off.
The same can be said for all of the other "non-writing" tasks I do. For 2023, I have decided to create A LOT of content as part of my marketing strategy. I want to post consistently on both my author and publishing accounts. So I made a schedule. Now instead of being overwhelmed with options for things I can/need to do for my scheduled "non-writing" time, I know how to spend the hour or so of time I want to spend on those tasks every night. Since I work in Retail, and have a random day off in the middle of the week, I know I can spend that day running errands and catching up on tasks I've fallen behind on, or get ahead for the next week, and I will still get my other day off to rest completely. No work, no writing, and no non-writing tasks.
Here are a few extra tips that might be useful when making your schedule.
Make a list of non-writing tasks you need to complete throughout the week, and schedule when you are going to do them ahead of time to avoid paralysis for your scheduled time. You can download the Weekly Task List I use to plan my week here.
Write a schedule that reflects what you are actually capable of. I am not a morning person, so writing a schedule where I get up 6am to write doesn't work. Honestly, neither does saying I will do a writing sprint before I leave for work. So a realistic schedule I can/will keep will take place after work. Be honest with yourself what you are capable of, willing to do, and make sure you set realistic expectations for yourself.
Leave yourself time to eat, sleep, and do other things you enjoy. I typically get home from work at 7:40pm. I don't schedule any non-writing tasks until 8:30pm at the earliest so I have enough time to eat. Recently, I have been scheduling tasks between 9 and 10pm. That gives me enough time to do a work out, eat, and wind down before starting on that day's tasks, and gives me a deadline that is early enough that I can still do things (like get on social media, watch a TV show, or read a book) before I go to bed at midnight...ish. Find a good balance for your preferred bedtime and your work schedule.
Don't think you have to do something every day of the week. For example, I don't do any non-writing tasks on Saturday or Sunday. On my day off from my full time job, I spend the hours I would be at work doing tasks, then leave that evening open to hang out with friends (since they aren't available until the evening anyway). If I am feeling overwhelmed or stressed, I will also take Friday evening for myself.
While we might prefer to be able to write full time, for most of us, it's not a reality. That doesn't mean we have to sacrifice our social life, our sleep, or wellbeing to successfully write, publish, and market our books.
Happy writing everyone!
Until next time,
Alyx
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