| Congratulations. You've got a great writing idea. | | | | focus for relatively short periods of time. |
| Alas, you also have a full-time job, kids, and a | | | | You may find that it takes a little bit of diligence |
| commuting schedule. Or perhaps you're still in | | | | and ingenuity to create undivided focus for your |
| school and you have loads of homework. How | | | | writing time. For example, you may have to |
| can you possibly find the time to write amidst all | | | | negotiate for some privacy with your family and |
| this craziness? | | | | friends. You may have to get up an hour earlier |
| First, if you're having trouble fitting writing into | | | | so you can write when everyone else is asleep. |
| your life, you need to budget your time. I suggest | | | | Or lock the door and turn off the phone when |
| you do a "time audit." This means that, over the | | | | you write. Personally, I put the following outgoing |
| course of a day or a few days, or even a week, | | | | message on my answering machine when I am |
| you track the amount of time you spend doing | | | | writing: "Hi, this is Stephanie. It's Monday and I'm in |
| everything you do throughout the day (or days | | | | writing retreat. This means that I'm not picking up |
| or week). Take particular note of how much time | | | | the phone. Leave me a message and I'll return it |
| you spend watching TV, playing sports, sleeping, | | | | within 24 hours." Whatever you find you need to |
| talking on the phone to your friends, playing | | | | do in order to protect your writing time, do it! |
| solitaire or other computer games, noodling | | | | Once you have carved out the time in which to |
| around on the Internet, reading magazines, | | | | write, consider how to best go about the writing |
| newspapers, or the latest novel--you get the | | | | itself. One way to approach a book project is to |
| picture. Your task is to become aware of where | | | | write each chapter as a blog, and then weave all |
| in your life you are frittering away valuable | | | | of these blog entries together to form the book. |
| minutes and energy. | | | | The idea here is to write first and edit later. It's |
| Although these activities are pleasurable and | | | | much easier to get your material down on paper |
| relaxation is important, couldn't you decrease the | | | | (or on computer, as the case may be) and then |
| total amount of time you spend on leisure, and | | | | refine it, rather than editing as you go. This is |
| give yourself the gift of those same moments to | | | | particularly true if you're a perfectionist and can |
| write? My personal experience and my | | | | slow yourself down by trying to get every |
| observation of my clients has shown that nine | | | | sentence exactly right the first time around. |
| times out of ten the answer to this question is a | | | | Keep in mind that you also have the option of |
| resounding yes. | | | | hiring an editor or a ghostwriter to do the editing |
| It is helpful to look at a project, such as writing a | | | | and refining for you after you have created your |
| book, in a pragmatic, mathematical way. Although | | | | initial draft. |
| the time it takes to write a book may seem | | | | One last thing: if you're having trouble dropping |
| daunting at first, and loom large in your | | | | into writing mode, understand that writing is |
| imagination, in fact it is a finite activity with a | | | | something you get better at the more you do |
| beginning and an end. Even when a subject is | | | | it--especially if you do it regularly. So, even if you |
| complex, if you're well organized and at least | | | | can only eke out a couple of sentences on a |
| moderately disciplined it is going to be a | | | | given day, give yourself the full hour of time to |
| manageable task. | | | | continue trying to write. You're training your mind |
| It is possible to research and draft a 160-page | | | | to focus on your project. Like a wild animal, it |
| book in approximately 200 hours. Therefore, if | | | | needs to be tamed. This is sort of like meditation. |
| you allot yourself only one hour per day to writing | | | | If you have it in your schedule that the first thing |
| or commit to completing one chapter per week, | | | | you do at the start of the day is to write for an |
| you will be able to complete your book in under a | | | | hour, you'll come to expect it and you won't resist |
| year--with plenty of time left for revisions. Here | | | | it so much. |
| are some important numbers to keep in mind: a | | | | See what happens when you apply these tools to |
| typeset page is about 350 words, so a 160-page | | | | your book project. I have no doubt that you will |
| book contains about 60,000 words. So, let's say | | | | make huge progress with your writing, develop |
| you had ten 6,000-word chapters to write. That | | | | confidence, and then what once seemed an |
| breaks down to about 1,000 words a day. Break | | | | impossible dream will become a reality. Good luck |
| your book project down into doable chunks, which | | | | and have fun. |
| you can complete if you give yourself undivided | | | | |