Writing Schedule (Figuring it out)

Good morning everyone!  I hope Wednesday is treating you all well.

I’ll get right to business.  I am currently in the process of building my writing schedule, in hopes to prevent burnout and bring more content to all of you and my Patreon patrons.  As I have been working on my schedule, I figured why not drop some tips for anyone else trying to tackle their big writing project.  Here goes!

Why Create a Schedule?

Quick answer, it keeps you honest and working.  Most people don’t like skipping or missing appointments they make to friends or loved ones.  When you create a schedule to write, you are promising yourself a set time to be able to write. (and draw, for the artists out there)  When you skip on your set time to write, chances are you will feel bad or guilty.  That’s good!  Skipping on your set writing time is like ghosting yourself before a date.  Don’t ghost yourself, set a time to write and do it.

I Don’t Have Time to Fit Writing In.

Quick answer, yes you do.  I get it, life is a lot at times.  Whether it’s school, chores, children, work, 2nd job, night classes, hobbies; you get the idea, life can easily take over writing time.  We as people are very good at lengthening the 24 hours that we are given a day.  No matter what you do in a day, I can guarantee that you find time for a phone call, video games, reading, Facebook scrolling, or any other “non-productive” task.  Simply set aside 30 minutes in a day.  When the kid has gone down for a nap, while dinner is being made, before you fire up the xbox, take that time and write.

30 Minutes Isn’t Enough Time to Write

Quick answer, yes it is.  I like to say that 30 minutes of writing is a gateway drug.  Similar to just eating one potato chip, or just reading one page of a book, or watching one episode of a binge worthy show, you can’t do it.  We always have more chips or flip more pages; that’s how I view 30 minutes of writing.  You could write about anything in those 30 minutes, it DOES NOT have to be about your current project, but I guarantee you won’t want to stop!

Why Can’t I Just Write When I Feel Like It?

Quick answer, you’ll rarely feel like writing, especially everyday.  As I touched upon above, life gets in the way of a lot, chances are if you are reading this, you don’t “feel” like writing a lot.  If you did, you’d be writing instead of reading this.  The biggest downside to writing when you feel like it, is that it doesn’t become a priority.  When you wait to feel like doing something, excuses appear out of nowhere to prevent you from feeling like doing anything.  As stated above, make a schedule, promise to yourself.

Do I Have to Write Everyday?

Quick answer, hell no!  If you are someone that is able to write everyday with the same passion as day one, during the info dumps, action scenes and twists, please reach out and teach me!  Burnout is a real enemy to writing, more so than writer’s block, in my opinion.  When you write everyday it becomes a chore.  It’s the same reason we have PTO and vacation days from work, you get burnt out doing the same thing over and over.  Most schedules I have seen are built similarly to a workout schedule.  Sometimes that could be too much when you are starting to get into the schedule.  My recommendation, pick three days not in a row and start there.

Thanks For Reading!

I hope you found this quick rundown helpful.  Feel free to comment below and share your tips and tricks to your schedule.  Have a great day everyone!