The following is the first in a series by Wren Doloro entitled On Making Goals for Writing and Life. The first installment, Fire Up! can be found here.
Many writers have a little thing called a full-time job. If not officially employed, the bulk of their time may be in taking care of family. However you spend it, time can easily tick by.
In the midst of everything, where do busy people find time to write a book?
Let’s start with a little show and tell. Twelve months ago I had three part time jobs, two college classes,
a boyfriend 40 minutes away, and a handful of good friends to cultivate. I received a promotion so good I could quit two jobs, and became a licensed massage therapist.
PICTURE
I even found time to read the Hunger Games, Game of Thrones (except the last one published), and the Steig Larson series.
This will be different for everyone but some things to think about are:
–How fast do you write in an average session? Is there a point where you often get stuck? That might be a good place to end a daily session. Or do you often get really good ideas after that?
–How much can you reasonably do every day? 20 minutes? 30? an hour?
–How do you spend your free time? Could you maybe cut out a tv show? Surf on the internet to a timer so if doesn’t take over writing? Maybe you could plan your social media more efficiently by using something like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite.
–Could you do a longer weekly session in case things come up during other days in the week? This is especially useful for plotting.
A great idea is to make index cards with your scene ideas. Put them in order and you can eliminate five to ten minutes of pen tapping time. Each day write from the next card in line. After a week or two has gone by, reassess where your story is going. Add or pull cards as needed. Always keep extra cards with you to record brilliant ideas.
–Can you fit inspiration or research into your recreational time? Examples are: seeing documentaries, reading books in your genre, and hanging out with expert friends.
–What materials do you need to write and is it feasible to have them on you all day? A notebook is easy peasy, but a laptop gets tricky.
I recommend purchasing an AlphaSmart electronic keyboard to type on the go. It can transfer all your writing via USB port into whatever document you want. It even has word counting ability! It gets the job done, plus it’s cheaper and lighter than a tablet or laptop. It’s also less likely to be stolen.
Don’t let the tools you write with dictate your timeline, all you really need is a pen.
–What are your big goals and what is the time frame for completion?
For example, a 50,000 word novel in a month is 1,667 words a day. I wrote a 100,000 word novel or 341 pages in a bit over three months at three pages a day. To begin revising, I then notated three pages a day for four months.
–Once you know your numerical goal, a reasonable goal per session and your time frame (# months or weeks) then we can really start talkin. MICROGOALS!
Divide numerical goal by month == monthly goal
Monthly goal by weeks == weekly goal
Weekly goal by sessions per week == session goal
–Make an excel spreadsheet to keep track of your monthly goals, and how much you write everyday. Hold yourself accountable to stay motivated and on track. This will teach you a lot about your work style!
I use a modified version of this chart from National Finishing Month, which has room for wordcount goals or hours. Hours can also be easily swapped to be pages instead. It also has some neat graphs. Here is one freebie for writing by Darla McDavid. Or make your own with this article or that one.
