80 MARCH 2020 http://www.writers-online.co.ukMinutes countMinutes count
Every writing business gets an extra day in 2020. Simon Whaley
chats to two writers about how they make each minute matter.C
ongratulations!
Your writing
business has been
awarded an extra
24 hours this year.
It’s called Saturday 29 February.
So what are you going to do
with yours?
Most of us never have enough
time to write, yet, ironically, it’s
not the amount of time that makes
us more productive, but how we
use that time. We all get given the
same 24 hours in a day as everyone
else. It’s what we do with those
1,440 minutes that turns a typical
day into a productive day for our
writing business.Know your CPT
Do you know your CPT? When
is your most creatively productive
time of day? Understanding when
our words and thoughts flow
better can make a huge difference
to our productivity.
Kristina Adams (www.
kristinaadamsauthor.com) is the
author of Productivity for Writers
and the What Happens In series
of humorous romantic novels.
‘Most of my writing is done in
the evening,’ she explains, ‘as
I find I’m most creative in the
evenings and at night time. At
the weekends I get up early to do
some writing or editing, then I
spend time with my partner and
our dog during the day, and do
some more in the evening.’
Interestingly, Kristina has
found she’s less productive when
she can spend the whole day
writing. ‘I find that on days
where I sit down to write and
have nothing else to do, I’m less
productive than on days where I
do other things around writing.’
Morgen Bailey is an author,
tutor, speaker, editor, blogger
and podcaster. So not only
is she writing books, like her
recently published The Serial
Dater’s Shopping List, she isalso an editor for Bloodhound
Books, often talks to local WI
groups, and even writes stories
for other people (check out
https://morgenbailey.com/your-
unique-story). She’s recently
been experimenting with the time
of day when she writes.
‘In the middle of October, with
NaNoWriMo looming, I decided
to write at least 300 words a day,
which – my favourite statistic – is
over 109,500 words a year, and
109,800 this year. It invariably
takes no more than half an hour- achievable by anyone willing to
have a regular habit.’
‘I used to set aside the evenings
to write,’ she continues, ‘but
found it rarely happened so
instead, with my new 300-word
target, I write every morning,
before any other work – but only
after walking my dog and the
first cup of tea – priorities! I’ve
stuck to this 300-word-minimum
regime ever since and if I’m out
for the day, I get up earlier. There’s
really no excuse if you want to do
something badly enough.’
A cunning plan
Having identified our most
creative time of day, the best
way to ensure every minute of
that creatively productive time
counts is to know what we’re
going to write.
‘Plan!’ says Kristina. ‘I used to
despise planning, but I’ve found
that it can cut my writing and
editing time at least in half, if not
more. I’m already planning my
third series even though I haven’t
finished writing my second one
yet. It’s so much easier to fix
plot issues in advance than find
you’re halfway through a project
and have to start again because it
doesn’t work.’
Planning isn’t just about
identifying what you’re going to
write. It’s also about scheduling.
As an editor for BloodhoundBooks, Morgen’s writing time
has to fit around production
schedules. ‘I’m regularly sent
an editorial schedule so I know,
several months in advance, what
my deadlines are,’ she says. ‘As
well as the first full edit, I get
to see the novels again before
they’re published, so it’s easy
to plan my months. Of course,
things change but then the rest
of my workload changes with
it. I’m given three weeks per
first full edit – usually three
sweeps – and a week for the final
read, so I can usually juggle the
two or three novels I receive
each month. That leaves a week
towards the end of the month
for myself.’Diary date
Schedule your writing time in the
diary. It’s important. Every other
business appointment gets written
in there, so why not add in our
own writing business appointment
with creativity?
I allocated a morning to write
the first draft of this article. I put
it in my diary. When I looked at it
the previous evening, I knew what
I would be doing when I sat down
at my desk the following morning.
Do it now. Turn to 29 February
in your diary or calendar and
block out your most creative time
of day. Then identify what you’re
going to write in that time slot.First draft focus
Creating our first drafts is frequently
the most challenging part of our
creative process, so focusing on what
needs to be done means blocking
out any distractions.
Kristina knows what steps she
has to take in order to focus,
but she also knows not to force
it, if it’s not happening.
‘I have to be somewhere
quiet and comfortable to focus.
I find this is more important
for first drafts or rewrites than