Being a writer can be a tricky business, especially when starting out. After all, life doesn’t stop because we want to chase our dreams. Many of us start writing as a hobby. Everyone has hobbies—things we do occasionally because we enjoy doing them. But when we decide to take the leap and change our writing from hobby to something more fulfilling it can be daunting and scary. Becoming a serious writer takes planning and time management.
I consider myself a stay-at-home mom first and foremost. I have four very active boys ages 21, 14, 10 and 8. I am chauffeur, cook, financial manager, activity coordinator, chore overseer, homework tutor, laundress, seamstress, therapist, first-aid specialist and giver of hugs and kisses. I am also a book editor and writer, both of which I do from home. And recently I went back to school to finish my degree. Life gets pretty busy around here. Daily planning is a must.
To be a full-time writer, it is important that you set time aside every day to write. Some of my friends from school would get up at five in the morning to do their studying before their kids got up for the day. This minimized their distractions. It’s a good strategy to use for writing as well. I’m more of a night owl than a morning person. I like to write after my kids are in bed for the night. This is tricky in the summer since they never want to go to bed. I am also lucky that all my boys are in school. During the school year I usually have a good five hours each weekday to edit, write or work on school work. The strategy that works best for me is to have a focus for each day of the week. I edit two days a week, do school work two days a week, write two days a week and take Sundays off. The important thing here is to set time aside every day or every week to do nothing but write.
Another setback to writing is distraction. How many times have you sat down at your computer to write and your email dings or you get a Facebook notification? Next thing you know, an hour has gone by and you’re still staring at a blank page. Here are some suggestions to eliminate distractions.
First, NO INTERNET! It is too easy to get distracted on the internet. If you need to research something for your book make a list of things to look up or questions that need to be answered and work on them another time. This will help you stay on task writing which is the goal of the time you have set aside. If you have to, turn off the wi-fi. All your notifications will be there when you turn it back on.
Second, find a quiet place to write. Turn off the TV. If you like to sing along to the radio, don’t listen to music with lyrics. I like to listen to movie soundtracks and classical music while I write. Sometimes the music even affects the tone of my writing.
Third, turn off your cell phone or put the phones in the other room and let the machine pick them up or let them go to voice mail. I screen my calls because my children are at school and you never know when one of them will need something urgently. Think back to before we had cell phones. If we weren’t home they had to call back. In most cases you can talk to someone after your done writing with no harm done.
Lastly, let your family know that you are writing and you need them to leave you alone for the next hour or two. Impress upon them how important it is to you and how much you appreciate their support. My husband is very supportive of my writing. He reads my first drafts and my second and my third…He knows it makes me happy and does what he can to be supportive. Your family will, too.
In order to be a serious writer, you have to write. If you don’t make time to write on a regular basis you can’t improve your craft. The more you write, the better writer you will be. With a little time management, you can make things happen and become the writer you want to be.
Keep writing.
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