Staying Connected

So you're a writer and you have a demanding day job, or you have a family that needs you a lot of the time. You have lots of other commitments to your time. The PTA wants you to help them. You've got homework to deal with. Maybe you have an ill parent you are caring for. And your own health to worry about. I understand.

But if you want to write a book, you need to work on it as often as possible. Yes, there are people who write books in one week on vacation. There are people who write only on Saturday nights for a couple of hours. Somehow these people manage to write books and I'm not going to say they're doing it wrong. But for most writers, writing is a regular thing.

I know people have said it before, but if you write 500 words a day every day, you end up with 100,000 words, likely a full novel's worth, in 200 days. This is real. I have seen people do this, people who believed they did not have time to write a novel in their busy lives. It took them about 30 minutes a day.

But a key to this strategy is staying connected to your work. I think writing 500 words a day every other day might work. Every third day probably won't. And once a week, no. Because you're going to spend most of your time every week getting back in touch with the story, remembering who the main character is, rereading parts that you've forgotten about, and thinking about what is the best next step.

Even if you only write one sentence a day, you will stay more connected to your book. Even if you only reread what you wrote the day before, you will stay connected with the story. Your subconscious will work on the story for you, the rest of the day, if you remind it often that this story matters.

So don't tell yourself you're going to sit down next week and write 10 chapters. Or 30,000 words because you have a week off. Tell yourself you're going to write just a little bit today. You will find yourself putting it off less if it feels like it's less daunting. I mean, who can't write another sentence in the book? You've got twenty four hours to think about what the next sentence will be.

But you know what will probably happen? Most days, you will probably find that you have more than a sentence to write. And if you don't, if you're writing for 5 minutes right before you crash into bed, and all you get is that one sentence, you're ahead of the game. You've got that one sentence, plus you're staying connected to your work. And that matters. It really does.

There are times when we don't write. Sometimes there are touring dates and sometimes you're letting your mind lie fallow. There are times when you have what I call life block and it's not a good time to write. But be realistic with yourself and decide if the level of craziness you're currently dealing with is really just the normal. And if it is, figure out how you can work around it and still do your work.