Prioritising

How easy do you find prioritising your writing?  I’ve found it easiest to carve out my writing time for different projects I'm working on and try to stick to that.

Planning work out helps a lot though I must admit my desk does not look this elegant!  Pixabay image.

This is not always possible.  Life has a habit of getting in the way and I’ve learned to accept this. What can’t be done one week has to go into the next but I limit this as much as possible.

I’m a member of the “get the story written and get it out somewhere” school of thought. I worry if I defer, I will keep on deferring.  Procrastination is so easy for a writer (we often call it research, yes? So many fascinating things to find out.  It will help us develop our characters.  Yes… maybe… but is the research getting in the way of you writing your characters’ story?).

Working out how to meet these is challenging but planning makes a big difference.  Pixabay image.

When life does get in the way, the comfort I have is it is not down to me delaying getting work out.

I must admit I don't plan to this kind of level!  Pixabay image

 Over time I’ve learned to use small pockets of time to jot down flash fiction stories (or write them up). Train journeys can be great for getting work done thanks to my mobile phone app. So in terms of prioritizing writing in one sense I have no problem at all.  I will write and that’s that.

Judging how to use the writing time you’ve got, when you consider the week as a whole, can be tricky. I like to use longer pockets of time for work that requires a lot of concentration such as editing or if I want to get several draft flash fiction stories down. 

Planning out your writing time will help you get more done.  Pixabay image

I try to carve out a “submissions” slot when I send in stories I prepared a while ago and which I’ve re-read after a suitable break and am happy to send off.

Balancing all of this isn’t easy but all writers need to find a way of balancing their work time in a way that suits them best. It pays to plan. You will get more done. 

Is it easier if a writer is focusing on one thing, say getting the next book written? Yes. You’ve got one project to tackle but you’ve still got to allow time to prepare it for submission, to edit it appropriately, and to get it off to agents/publishers.  You need to put aside time to work out what marketing you will do (and which you can sustain and find enjoyable to do).

Have you ticked off everything on your Writing To Do list?  I haven't either. Pixabay image

With books, you need to give thought as to whether you are going to go for the traditional publishing route at all or go for self publishing.  In either case, you will need time to work out who to submit your precious MSS to or decide whether you will buy in self publishing services (if so, which ones and where from) or go it totally alone and literally do everything yourself.

Having priorities in terms of managing your time is crucial for us all then.

We could all do with more time.  Pixabay image.