“What gets dated gets done” is an maxim that has proven true again and again. It will also prove true of your memoir if you create a writing schedule with precise days and hours.
While “I write when I feel like it” has its adherents, I am left wondering how many memoirs written on a timetable characterized by impulse actually get completed.
Instead, I suspect this sort of scheduling leads to “I’m quite busy and I intend to write when my schedule opens up.” Or, “This writing thing is not as interesting as I had thought at first. I’ll write when I’m inspired again.”
Seriously, is this a plausible schedule?
A sensible writing schedule
Below, you will learn techniques to create an effective and sustainable writing schedule—both daily and long-term—that gets your memoir completed and in the hands of its readers.
As I’ve written in one of the posts below, “When you feel like writing, write. When you don’t feel like writing, write.”
If this doesn’t ring true with you, substitute the following: “When you feel like parenting, parent, but when you don’t feel like parenting, don’t do it. Be free spirit. You’ll get to parenting later.”
In conclusion
Don’t underestimate the value of “inch by inch, it’s a cinch” over time. The way to assure that you write “inch by inch” is to schedule it on your calendar.
Next year at this time, your memoir could be written, edited, and published.
Of course, if having a memoir in hand is not that important, there is no need to read the following articles!
A First Step to Becoming a Disciplined Writer
Becoming a disciplined writer is a practice.
Do you struggle with becoming a disciplined writer on a regular basis and do you wish you could be more focused? Do you ask yourself, “Why is it so hard to write when I really do want to write?” [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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How do you spend your memoir writing time?
Note from the Editor: The following post is taken from Writer’s Time: Management That Works. This eprogram functions with an open enrollment. Register today to find more memoir writing time.
How do you spend your memoir writing time? Your commitment to your memoir is the engine that will propel your writing to completion. Awareness of how effectively you spend your time—and the increasing skill with which you make use of your time—is the vehicle that will get your memoir written more quickly. [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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Prioritize your memoir writing time
Note from the Editor: The following post is taken from Writer’s Time: Management That Works. This program functions with an open enrollment.
How do you prioritize your memoir writing time? Time management calls for understanding how you think of yourself and what you are willing to consider as important in your life. It entails becoming conscious of your priorities.
Prioritize your memoir writing time
While you cannot say “first priority”—prior means first in Latin and there cannot be a “first first”—you can have a number of things that are in first rank in your life: [Free Membership required to read more. See below. ]
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Making time to write your memoir–Time management that works
Note from the Editor: The following post is taken from the introduction to Writer’s Time: Management That Works. This program functions with an open enrollment. Registrations are being accepted now. Make time to write your memoir—now! There’s no denying that writing a memoir takes time—a lot of time. In this program, you will learn strategies […]
A Key to Memoir Writing Success
Do you ever wish you had the key to memoir writing success? Let me offer you one key that, I believe, every writer needs to make use of. Memoir writing success is built on daily habits. As has been bandied about and attributed to many different speakers, it is said that “you go to the […]
Showing up for writing—regularly
In the first days of creating a manuscript when we writers sit down to write—or rededicate ourselves to writing—it is often a struggle to find the energy to show up for the task. So many things seems to compete for our attention. We ask ourselves about “the point of all of this” and “who will read this book anyway” and “will people find this memoir a bit lightweight.” But showing up—regardless of what negative thoughts go through your head—is important because that is how a habit is formed. The first ten or so weeks of writing are when you will grow the habit of writing. You will begin to need to write, to find sustenance from writing. That sustenance will keep you writing.
People have said to me, “The first months were the hardest. After a while, the writing was something I did out of habit. I didn’t necessarily like it but I showed up whenever I said I would. The after a while something happened. I didn’t feel good if I didn’t write regularly. I just didn’t feel as if I were all right. My writing seemed less of an effort, and I even thought it was better. My stories were adding up, and it made me happy to see how much I was accomplishing.”
Underpromise and overdeliver
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