Hi all, let’s start the week with an outrageous claim:
You can write 3000 words a week, and still keep your sanity AND weekends.
No, really. Don’t believe me? Allow me to share my writing schedule and see if I can convince you.
The first thing you need is good prep, which is something I’ve written on before. If you are writing a book, or even a short story, you should have a separate document with all your notes. This includes the overall plot of your story, a run-down of each of your main character arcs, and any cheat notes on the main story themes. Now we start.
MONDAY. Don’t do any formal writing today, unless you are really pumped up to jump in. Monday is for specific plot planning. By this I mean you use your overall story plan document to create a specific, beat by beat outline of the next three thousand words. My preference is reducing down each 200-250 word chunk of the story into a few sentences. This kind of note taking doesn’t chew up a lot of time, and it primes your brain to get into the story. It’s also a way of feeling through the finer details of the plot to see if there are any problems that need fixing.
TUESDAY. I start my writing when I get on the train to work – about 25 minutes. I used to write on a mobile phone, but I type too slowly on the tiny little screens, so I’ve moved to using a 10-inch tablet (side note, my preferred keyboard is SwiftKey). Writing program of choice is good ol’ reliable Word. By working directly on the specific plot plan document, I can turn those notes into roughly 300-350 words of story. Lunchtime? There’s another free slot. You can go outside, take a stroll, grab a snack and still find time for about 150 words. Then there’s the train back home, in which we can finish up another 250-300 words. 750 words total for the day, in three small, manageable bites.
On days where I might want to push myself, I can write a little more in the evening. My younger girls sometimes prefer me to wait by the door after the lights are out so they can feel safe while getting to sleep. I’ve done some great writing sitting on the floor in the dark, leaning against a door and listening to my daughters snore.
WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY, FRIDAY. Rinse and repeat, baby. Four solid days of work and you are the proud owner of 3000 words, either a chapter of a book or a standalone short story. Now go take a break, spend time with your family, and don’t stress. On Monday morning, you might want to take out your overall story plan document and see what you’re going to get done in the coming week.
Obviously, this routine comes with a few caveats. First and foremost, once you’ve finished a story you should take a decent amount of time away from new writing to properly edit you work. It may also take time to build up to writing roughly 300 words in one sitting. When I first started writing, it took me all day to churn out 150 words, tops. But the more you stick with it, the more you will train your writing discipline. I was discussing this same concept with a friend of mine from Mystic Publishers a few months ago, and I asked him to remember these words:
Writing is a marathon, it’s not a sprint.
You don’t have to go crazy and write a thousand words in a single sitting. Be organised, start small, and pretty soon you will be ripping off a short story every week.
Feeling more confident? Get out there are show the world the great story that’s dying to be told!
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