A goal is a target, not an action
January 26, 2025 • No Comments
The superhuman effort required to be an adult in this world is profound. I’m serious. The struggle to get out the door every morning in some semblance of a public-ready mindset (not to mention clean socks) cannot be overstated.
Still, some of us try to run an author business on top of whatever other icebergs we navigate on a daily basis. Proof of insanity? Case closed.
That said, I’ve come across some good practices that make the journey easier. No, this isn’t another productivity post, because heroic writing sprints aren’t that much fun when you’re actually doing them, and after a certain point at least I stop making sense. As far as how fast you put words on the screen, you do you. This isn’t about how much you do, but how to work smarter.
Am I on track? Do I know where the track is?
Organize whatever tools and ambitions work for you into something actionable. In January I plan where I want to be in December and how I’m going to get there. Yes, I consider productivity, but realistically. Do I want to release three more books in my series this year? Then I need to work out how many words a day I can write, and how many days a week, and mark on the calendar when that adds up to a book. So, if a writer writes a thousand words a day every day, it will take (roughly) three months to finish a manuscript. Add a few weeks for unforeseen interruptions, then a few more for an initial review before it goes off to an editor. Repeat that three times, and there are my three books in a calendar year. I don’t plan to accomplish more than I can actually do.
However, I can monitor my progress through the year. Some don’t like to feel pressure on their creativity, and that’s fair. I’ve had periods like that, too, when it’s not the right time for deadlines. Yet sometimes it is, and I can always change a due date. I never feel the least bit guilty about protecting my well-being—but I’d rather know if I’m off course, because then other timelines need to be adjusted.
Scheduling a release without hurting your brain
Once a book is written, it should come out when it makes the most strategic sense. Uncoupling writing and releasing makes a big difference. Sometimes it makes sense to stockpile stories for a rapid release, coordinate with a particular holiday (hello Christmas books), or build excitement in a slow part of the year. Don’t rush. Ideally, one should give reviewers at least three months to read and review an advanced copy of the book. A longer pre-order also allows for more promotion and (hopefully) a more successful launch. Plan accordingly and schedule launch and pre-order activities on the same calendar as your writing progress because one may impact the other in terms of available time.
Don’t forget marketing and promotion, even if you want to
The third calendar layer is marketing beyond just book launches. This includes content marketing (the cool stuff we put out into the world beyond “buy my book”), newsletters, social media, and paid promotions such as sales on backlist books. Put all those dates on the calendar, too, along with the lead time you need to start working on the material.
How micro one gets is a personal choice. Just the highlights? Or every Instagram reel? Either way, planning a few weeks ahead helps coordinate content topics with release events, newsletter dates, and social media content. Whether this happens on a spreadsheet or in the margins of a date book doesn’t matter, as long as it happens.
There’s always more… and more
My calendar covers writing, releasing, and promotion, but that’s me. It could list podcasting, personal appearances, research dates, or anything else. Any planning calendar should include whatever make sense to the individual.
Goals are good, but without some step-by-step directions, they can sit there like a china shepherdess on the mantelpiece—just another pretty thing collecting dust because they have no real function. When goals have action items on paper and accounted for, then magic happens. It’s dead easy to figure out what needs to be done in a week, budget the necessary time, and address all those authory “shoulds” that never get attention.
Or that’s the idea, anyway. Yes, plans unravel, and my work calendar is no exception. I run out of hours, slack off, or plain forget stuff, but I do get closer to where I want to be. I’ve done the steps that need to happen before crunch time, whether that’s getting the ISBN before last-minute uploading or discovering all the promo sites are booked up long past launch date. Yup, I’ve done both. I needed a method to save myself from myself.
Put another way, I’ve done the dumpster fires so you don’t have to. I’ve learned the hard way. My takeaway was to focus long enough to make a plan, even if it was only once a year.
The Weekend Writer
October 10, 2019 • No Comments
Unfortunately, the income of most authors is not enough to sustain a mouse, much less a modern household in a large urban city. Without a doubt, this is the most common reason for the rise of the weekend warrior writer, who toils for pay five days a week and pounds on the keyboard during weekend hours. The disadvantages of this state are obvious—who doesn’t want to be a full-time writer rather than drudging for someone else? Plus, if one is serious about a writing career, the time commitment is equivalent to a second full-time job.
But there are also advantages to a double life.
- Some of us actually like our day jobs (or at least the benefits package)
- Part-time writers might have fewer titles under their belt, but they may have gained other useful busness skills.
- It’s far easier to let the imagination frolic when there’s less pressure to succeed.
- If writing to a niche market is your thing, financial security allows you the luxury of taking a creative risk. So, go ahead and write that book of your heart about vampire sheep conquering distant galaxies!
Whatever the trade-offs, we do what’s necessary to get words on the page. So here are some survival tips for writing around the edges of your day:
Organization is obviously important for any home business, whatever its nature. For us, this means breaking down writing, marketing, and production tasks into manageable bites and fitting them into our schedules. There are people who can squeeze in writing time in uncanny circumstances, but others get more mileage by blocking off set times for creation. The important point is to manage time in an intentional way. If I go with the flow my day is soon circling the drain.
I’ve experimented with an endless series of calendars and apps like Things 3 to corral my to-dos. I need something that offers repeating reminders (daily, weekly, or monthly) and groups tasks by project and type (writing, personal, household, etc.). The combo of ideal tools will vary with every person, but the basic goal is to avoid reinventing the to-list every morning. Ideally, your app fairies have that figured out before you roll out of bed. The less time spent puzzling over the day’s tasks, the more time can be devoted to actually crossing items off the list.
Know your peak productivity times. Some people can knock off a thousand words before breakfast. Others (like me) are night owls. Put your creative time where (and when) it counts. I might be able to schedule Tweets in the morning, but don’t ask me to make complete sentences, recognize faces, or handle anything sharp. Once, I actually put cat kibble in the coffee maker.
Be professional. Show up fully wherever you are. In other words, leave writing at home and work at work. Keep your deadlines and commitments, whatever hat you’re wearing. Bottom line: avoid emailing your manuscript to your boss by mistake.
Respect your muse. Writing can a hard business, with a ton of expectation placed on our creative selves. In particular, there is a lot of pressure to produce material quickly, which is especially hard when writing time is hard to get.
Deep breath! It is possible to get faster with practice. Solid plotting skills and a regular writing routine naturally increase the pace of book production. Drafting by dictation speeds things up for me, but it took months to produce something beyond stream of consciousness babble. Sadly, there is no magic software that makes you write a bestselling novel in two weeks. Believe me, I’ve tried them all!
Most of all, be patient with yourself. Weekend writers aren’t on a learning curve, we’re on a mandala, looping in and out and around everything else to pursue our path. We’re proof positive that there are plenty of ways to find success, even if it’s by the scenic route.
One list to rule them all
March 19, 2018 • No Comments
March is springtime, the moment of renewal, the return of cherry blossoms and the perfect excuse to refresh our wardrobes. After a winter of rain and gloom, blue sky and flowers are welcome indeed. For the locals, there is also the annual running of the goats.
In the spirit of sparkly new things, there was of course our weekend retreat detailed in our newsletter, plus the standing room only Collaborative Creativity workshop March 10 in Nanaimo. Note the celebratory beverage:
Other new things include many plans for future stories—more Corsair’s Cove as well as my solo projects. There’s a brand new calendar on my wall, and I spent part of this past weekend making sure all my dates are captured in multi-colored inks. I also amalgamated a zillion notes, lists and stickies into a coherent one-pager. Now I can see at least a little of my desk. It would be easier if I was able to use electronic prompts effectively, but I seem to enjoy the comfort of physical lists that I can scribble on and cross out.
I’d say this was simple in the extreme and not worth mentioning except for the amount of paper I recycled by the end. Trees died in the name of my productivity. So here you go–proof of the semi-tidy desk with obligatory teacup, stuffed toys and the topic list to the right. I can actually see wood!