Today’s post is written by Krissy Brady, a finalist in The First Ever Write It Sideways Blogging Contest. Thanks, Krissy!
No matter how passionate we are about our writing, and no matter how determined we are to balance the writing career we are creating with our already full-time life, there will be times where we feel as if the cosmos are against us—more often than not, finding the time to accomplish our writing goals can seem as elusive as a unicorn.
There is one thing we all need to remember during times like this, and it’s that we will reach our writing goals. It’s something that we are confident about when we’re on a roll, writing so much we’re afraid we may run out of paper, but something that fades once we’ve experienced setbacks.
Sure, life barely goes as planned, but the fact remains that our writing stems from our experiences. Without them, we would end up writing the most horrible garbage known to man; an episode of Jersey Shore would have more depth.
So, when things become hectic, how would one go about scheduling their time so that their writing goals don’t suffer? Here are a few tips to get you started:
1. Set your schedule free.
During times where we have varying responsibilities on our plate, we start out with a positive perspective on the situation: we create a concrete schedule, determined that we can accomplish everything we need to like superheroes, without our writing goals being effected. Then, interruptions happen: our computer crashes, our little friend procrastination comes to visit, the intimidation of the blank page overwhelms us, or the flu knocks us out of commission and delays all aspects of our lives.
When we create a schedule to balance our lives with our writing, we have a tendency to only plan out the technical aspects of reaching our goals; we leave out the time needed for any potential interruptions and setbacks, including emotional, that may delay us.
Keep in mind that once your schedule is created, it can always be modified. This is a big lesson I’ve learned—too often I felt as if not completing my writing checklist for the day meant Armageddon, when in fact I could modify my schedule based on the challenges arising in my life. Sure, some writing goals might take a little longer than anticipated, but they are still attainable. This has helped me to stay productive and avoid feeling defeated.
2. When revising your schedule, prioritize your writing tasks.
If you find that you’re crunched for time and won’t reach the writing goals you had hoped to, it doesn’t mean that you’ll never reach them, it just means you won’t reach them as quickly as you wanted to.
Look over the writing goals you had hoped to accomplish, and prioritize them. You might be thinking, “But all of my writing projects are my priority.” Maybe so, but if you look over your projects, organizing them by urgency—call for submissions deadlines, writing contest deadlines, dates you promised to have articles submitted by, etc.—this will ensure you won’t miss the writing opportunities that can pass you by. Personal deadlines, i.e. “I want to submit three batches of poems to literary magazines this month,” can wait until your schedule is less hectic. There are plenty of literary magazines out there, and lucky for us, they’re not going anywhere.
3. When your schedule lightens, catch up with your writing goals by taking part in a writing challenge (or creating one of your own).
April is filled-to-the-brim with writing challenges: there is the Poetic Asides Poem a Day Challenge, hosted by Robert Lee Brewer of Writer’s Digest, the Ultimate Blog Challenge where participants write a blog post per day for 30 days, and the Script Frenzy challenge, where writers spend the month of April writing a 100-page script. Challenges like these are the perfect opportunity to catch up on those projects you had to temporarily set aside, and if there isn’t one currently taking place that suits you, why not create one of your own? Whether striving to write a certain amount of words per day until you’re back on track, or submitting a certain amount of query letters per month, the sky is the limit.
No matter what happens in your life that delays your writing goals or makes them more difficult to accomplish, it is always possible to reach them. Whether you use the exact tips above, or they inspire you to create solutions that work for you, you spirits will rise, your productivity will increase, and your writing career will thank you for it.
Krissy Brady is a freelance writer located in Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada. She is a blogger dedicated to keeping the passion for writing alive, and is currently working on her first novel, poetry collection and screenplay. To learn more and keep in touch with Krissy, visit her blog at krissybrady.com, and follow her through RSS, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for the latest writing-related information.
Krissy, I thank you for a great post 🙂 It is so true that we can’t become so rigid in our schedules or our plans that we forget to leave room for error. Errors, distruptions and those unexpected delays.
Your positive thoughts and suggestions have already raised my spirit. Today I will remember to flex the most important part of my day 🙂
Hi Florence,
I’m so glad my article has helped you move forward! It’s a big lesson that I’ve been learning myself: I have the best of intentions, always wanting to pack everything I can into my day, but always end up falling short because *duh, I never incorporate the time for such things as sleep, eating, and breaks (which I hear are pretty important, lol!). I’ve been finding that loosening up my schedule has been helping, though I have a long way to go with breaking this bad habit of mine. Good intentions are only good intentions until you can actually follow through. Be sure to keep in touch with your progress! 🙂
Krissy, I really enjoyed this article. I have tried numerous times to makes schedules and say “I will be done by such a date” or “I will write every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.” It really added more stress to my life that I just don’t need.
Congratulations on being a finalist!
Thanks so much Ashley! I’m the exact same way, and the stress from the pressure I would put on myself would cause me to freeze in panic, instead of just breathing and letting the writing flow. Actually, today, I’m feeling a bit of panic with the writing challenges I’m taking part in because of how hectic my work schedule currently is, so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to take in a breath, and see where the rest of the day takes me. 🙂
“…our writing stems from our experiences. Without them, we would end up writing the most horrible garbage known to man….”
A perfect reminder for me on those days when it feels like life keeps getting in the way of writing.
Great post!
Thanks Christi! It’s hard to not end up resentful of the things that take us away from our writing. I try and keep writing in my mind at all times. For example, if I don’t have time to sit and write, I try and spend some time completing technical tasks (outlining, organizing ideas, planning queries for upcoming call for submissions deadlines, etc.), or if my brain is even too fried for that, I read a writing magazine or creep on blogs such as this one for inspiration. As long as writing is a part of some portion of my day, I’m in good spirits. 🙂
Good tips, Krissy! Most of all, I love your flexible attitude about giving yourself the freedom to change your schedule or reprioritize. This is important with writing…and so many other aspects of life too!
Thanks Erika! It’s something that I’ve really been focusing on, as I have always been WAY to rigid with my schedule. I have to remember that I’m not a machine, I need to leave room for emotion, being tired, being human. I find that it has been helping me put less pressure on myself so that I can focus clearly on what I need to do each day, writing-related or not.
I really like the idea of “setting your schedule free,” Krissy! That’s a great way to look at it…plan but not so rigidly that a surprise can completely derail us. Great article!
I’m really glad you found the article helpful Shannon! I am famous for having a specific schedule in place, and then one setback screws up the entire thing (especially with my web design business, you never know what’s going to happen in a day). This was a big lesson I learned when my computer crashed last month–had I not been so rigid, I think I would have been able to transition from one computer to the other more smoothly, continuing on with my tasks as planned.
Good job Krissy & congrats on your very first post!
Thanks so much! I am so excited to have the opportunity to chat with such great writers.
I’ve learned the hard way that life will interrupt your writing plans and no amount of guilt is going to change the result. I’ve resolved to become more flexible and adaptable with my plans and my writing. At least this way I leave the guilt behind!
Great post, Krissy.
Thank you Kerryn, and I completely agree. Feeling guilty is a trait that runs throughout every generation of my family, so I know how you feel. I would always feel so disappointed with myself if I didn’t check everything off my list in a day, but that’s life (as much as we don’t want it to be, LOL). But those setbacks have given me so much substance in my life, and truly defined my character, and those that I write about in my essays, stories, and screenplays.
Such a wise and helpful post, Krissy! I know that unless I follow something of a schedule, writing is the first thing to fall to the wayside. Sadly, it’s far too easy to set aside what we love for what seems urgent (even when it really isn’t). Clearly, the plan I need to move to the top of the list is the intent to “Set my schedule Free!” Thanks for sharing your insights 😉
My pleasure Barbara! I took a hiatus from my writing for a few years so that I could start an at-home web design business. It was my hope that it would give me the flexible schedule necessary to incorporate my writing into my life on a more frequent basis. With a scheduled job where you have to be somewhere at a certain time, it caused me to miss out on many submission deadlines and opportunities. But, as with everything, the longer I took to begin writing again, the harder it got. When I finally got angry enough with myself and fought for my right to write, I refuse to let it happen again. I felt like a huge piece of me was missing, and now that I’m doing what I love again, nothing is going to get in the way, guilt or no guilt. 🙂
This is one of the best and most practical blogs on keeping a writing schedule that I’ve read. I particularly love the tip about setting your schedule free. I often feel too locked into my schedule and not only does it usually mean I don’t get my writing done, if I do have time to write, I’m too stressed out to think. Thanks, Krissy!
My pleasure! I completely know how you feel. The only thing that makes up for a situation like that, are those times where it is impossible to stop writing, when you can’t write/type out the words fast enough. I like how our creativity eventually balances itself out, but I would definitely prefer more consistency. 🙂
Just what I needed at this time. I bowed out of an online writing class because life is too hectic at the moment. But I know it will calm down, and when it does, I’ll go back and review all the class notes and get back on track with my plan.
That’s great news Patricia! I’m looking forward to the end of this month–things have been absolute insanity for me lately on both a professional and personal level, and on top of that I must have completely lost it, because the three writing challenges I mentioned above, I am taking part in too, lol! It’s been a whirlwind, but come May 1st I’ll be breathing a sigh of relief. Regardless of whether I successfully finish the challenges or not, it will give me plenty of new writing material, and I won’t be asking myself “What if?”
I really love your third suggestion to catch up on your writing goals with a challenge.
I recently set aside about six weeks to write a short story in order to have it submitted to a literary magazine before their due date. The knowledge that there was a due date kept me on track, and by the end of it I had (1) completed a story I was quite pleased with, and (2) been accepted for publication. Now I’m looking into a few writing contests and things as personal challenges when I feel like catching up on my goals.
Thanks for a great post, Krissy 🙂
My pleasure, and thanks so much for the opportunity to appear on your blog! I just did the same thing with an essay I submitted to Thin Threads yesterday, and have my fingers crossed. 🙂 I love writing challenges. With Script Frenzy this month, I am working on a script that I wouldn’t have necessarily tried to fit into my schedule at this time. It’s such a refreshing feeling! I mean, you’d think with my goal of wanting to become a screenwriter, that I would fit the script into my schedule automatically, but it goes to show that life can take you in many directions, and not necessarily the “write” one, *snorts.
Writing does require a constant recalibration of expectation and desire over Life. We just get into a rhythm that works, and things shift. Thanks for the reminder to persist without panic.
My pleasure Jan. It’s been something I’ve always struggled with–I find I just start getting on my feet and getting comfortable, and BANG, everything turns upside down, but the only reason it happens is because I’m trying too hard to have everything a certain way. This is my first official week of having flexible plans, and while I feel like I’m going through withdrawl, LOL, I’m finding my stress level way lower than it normally would be, helping me to focus.
I’m with Suzannah. Your suggestion to catch up with a challenge really resonated. I did Nanowrimo for the first time last fall, and it really moved my writing forward. Should challenge myself more often. Thanks, Krissy! –Debra
Anytime Debra! The thing is, it can be hard to create a challenge for yourself and stick with it. I find I’m more determined when I have more of a support base around me. For example, in March I completed Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge through the SITS Girls website, and finished it with flying colours–when I tried doing it on my own the first time, I barely made it to Day 6, lol! 🙂 I think the trick is to find what gives you the most strength in terms of trying to meet deadlines/goals.
Go Krissy. Our problem is that we forget we are human, not super human, and a lot of us have a hard time knowing what to put first in line. Thanks to your article I feel a normal connection to all writers. When I go crazy I will remember I am not alone.
Thanks Mom! haha Everyone, this is my Mom, Nathalia, who just recently learned how to turn on a computer. 🙂 I’m so proud, I’m starting to tear up. xoxoxoxoxo
Thanks! It helps me to remember, too, that time not-writing can be productive to one’s writing. To walk away from a project can allow it to percolate in the back of the mind. The trick is to trust in that process. Thanks for the reminder about flexibility in the writing process.
No problem Helen. As I was writing the article, it was a big reminder to myself as well. It’s so true that stepping away can help the process. Who ever would have thought that cleaning my cat’s litterbox would help me to think of a new poem idea?! It’s crazy how the mind works sometimes.
This post really spoke to me. I have a toddler and I must keep a schedule just to fit in some writing. However, I have become more forgiving of myself for missing “appointments” with computer when Henry will not nap or fusses so much and remains awake much of the night. Rigidity would precipitate failure in my world now. Flexibility has enabled me to engage with my creative side and enjoy the people I love–the rest of my life.
Thank you for the thoughtful post.
Best,
Becky Benson-Flannery
http://perusingthepages.blogspot.com
You’re more than welcome! The discipline/flexibility balancing act is a constant struggle, but I find that since I completely threw away my old way of doing things, now working more on instinct than on a specific schedule, it’s a more fulfilling process. Taking the pressure off myself has been helping me to accomplish things in a more productive way. The hardest thing for me has been letting go of the guilt of not being able to please every area of my life on a regular basis–still working on it! 😉
Over here from Writer Unboxed – wonderful post, Krissy — good solid sound advice!
Thank you Kathryn! I have definitely been testing out each tip I provided, and so far it’s really been helping with my writing goals. Especially the writing challenges-I have been participating in all three this month–hectic and insane, but a great adventure! 🙂
Good post, Krissy. Thanks for leading the way by giving these suggestions! I have one firm rule: On days where my writing takes the back seat, when it seems to run away from me, due to busyness or other personal things, I would yet write at least half a page, even if I have to close my eyes or bite my lips. This way, as I experienced, it (the writing) can never run away from me entirely.
What a great idea! I always make sure to at least write a sentence down during the really hectic days; I agree, so that your writing doesn’t run away from you. Or, at the very least, read a writing magazine to work on the learning process of writing. By the way, I checked out your blog, and I really like it! I like the angles you choose when you’re writing your articles, and how you always relate them to writing. They have really been helping me to step out of my shell. 🙂
Thank-you for making me less guilty. Finding the time to feel like a real writer is sometimes very difficult. Real life likes to step in take over. Writing does take a back seat if you let it. If you don’t let it GUILT.