Getting that Writing Done

Jun 4, 2012 | Writing A Book

Books don’t write themselves. If you want to write a book you need to sit down, put your fingers on the keys, and get to it. That’s especially challenging if you’re trying to fit writing into an already-packed schedule. Here are two things you can do that will help.

Schedule writing time first. It’s a basic rule of scheduling for effectiveness. Schedule the important things first when you’re laying out your week or your day. Then fill in around them with less important things.

Two options seem to work for my clients. Some prefer to write a little (usually an hour) every day. Most commonly they get up early and write or devote part of every evening to writing.

Other clients prefer less frequent but longer blocks of work. Most common is one or two three hour sessions a week.

Follow Raymond Chandler’s advice about what to do during your writing time. He said that you don’t have to write during your scheduled writing time, but you aren’t allowed to do anything else during that time.

Bottom Line

Make writing time a priority that you schedule around. Then, use the time to write and nothing else.