How and Why You Need To Schedule Your Writing Time
So you want to learn to be a better writer?
Well, I can’t help you. At least not in the way you want.
There is no specific formula for becoming a better writer. No one can teach you that. You have to learn it for yourself. How? One way is by writing. Consistently.
But telling yourself this just simply isn’t enough. My solution to this issue? I schedule my writing time.
Now I know what you’re thinking.
“But wait, you’re a writer. You can’t force creativity! You have to be in a specific mood to write!”
Lies. All lies.
Think about it. In order to become good at something, you have to practice. You have to form a habit, a schedule. Writing is no exception. Yes, it’s hard at first, but your writing will be better, your productivity will be greater, and your ideas will come more quickly.
Don’t believe me? Just give it a chance. Follow these 9 steps for 3 weeks and then see how you feel:
1. Pick a time of week and day. By choosing a specific time of day to write, you won’t be able to put it off for a ‘few minutes,’ which we all know usually turns into hours. Six years ago, I would get up 5:30 every morning to write, back when I had more energy and less trouble sleeping than my current insomnia-riddle-self. Post-community-college but pre-Covid, I would go down to a local coffee shop to write every Sunday at 7:30 AM. Now, I write every Sunday at 7:30 AM in a cozy beanbag chair at home.
The point? Pick a time you know you can write consistently. It doesn’t have to be every day, it just has to be consistent.
2. Pick a place. It’s easier to form a habit if your surroundings are the same every single time. That way, when you enter this space, your brain knows: It’s on.
3. Plan how long you want to write. No, don’t set a word count. This is possibly the worst piece of advice I’ve ever tried to follow. It just stressed me out and made me feel bad when I was unable to finish my 1,000 words by the time other duties asserted themselves. Having a minimum time limit is great because it’s not stressful and allows you to fit it into your life more easily. I like to write for at least an hour, but 20 minutes works too. There was even a time in my life where I got by on squeezing in 5 minutes of writing every other night.
Sometimes you’ll only be able to write a few paragraphs during your allotted amount of time, sometimes you’ll write a lot more than that. Don’t focus on the quantity. Just focus on building the habit.
4. Tell the world of your commitment. In this case, pride is a very helpful thing. If you tell others what you are planning on doing, you’ll be less likely to break your habit. If you have a Facebook, post every day that you stick to your plan. If you use Twitter, tweet about it. If you have a blog, post about it. Yes, you get to brag about how many days you’ve stuck to your schedule. But here’s the thing: you have to tell the world if you quit or mess up. And if you’re anything like me, that is not at all appealing.
5. Find your weaknesses and destroy them. By now, you probably have come up with reasons why this will be hard for you. Write them down and then think of ways you can make these less of an issue. If you’re afraid of sleeping in, set an alarm clock. If you might get distracted by text messages, turn off your phone. It’s easier to deal with issues before they arise, so plan out how to remove any disruptions before they happen.
6. No distractions. This time should be used for writing only. No social media, no e-mail, internet for only project-specific use. If possible, try to set up this time so that nobody else (family, friends, etc) will be around to break your focus.
7. Define writing. If you’re going to sit down and write on specific days, in specific places, at specific times, you need to have a specific definition of writing. If you’re trying to write a novel, don’t go writing a blog post. Find a category of writing you want to work in like novel writing, blog writing, short stories, or even editing and stick to that. Don’t use this time to bounce around from blogs to short stories to novels, otherwise you’ll never finish any of them.
8. Give yourself some flex-space. Even though you should define the kind of writing you are doing, try to think outside the box. For example, just because you’re going to try to write a novel doesn’t mean you need to work on the book starting at Chapter 1, moving to Chapter 2, and then 3 and so on and so forth. You can write scenes for chapter 22 even if you’re back in Chapter 4. You can go back and add scenes to Chapter 1 even if you’re almost finished with the epilogue. You can edit passages that your wrote just a few days ago. You can write out a character’s back story or a world’s history, even if it will never make it into the book. That way you won’t get stuck staring at a blinking cursor until your allotted time is up.
9. Keep it fun. Just because it’s a schedule doesn’t mean it has to be unenjoyable. Listen to music, drink some tea, eat a cookie. Find things that make you happy and surround yourself with them while you write. This is really dorky and you can laugh at me if you want – I probably deserve it – but I have a little Ariel Polly Pocket standing right next to my computer. For whatever reason, that always provides me with a lot of amusement. It’s the simple things, right?
Now don’t let this be one of those articles you read and then shrug off! I challenge you to put these 9 steps to practice for 3 weeks (21 days). Let me know how it goes by tweeting me (@_FayeFite) or leaving me a comment. I want to hear all about it!
What are some of your favorite opening lines? Do you have any questions, tips, or tricks you'd like to share? I'd love to hear what you have to say!
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