Spontaneity can be exhilarating and bring zest to your writing, but if you are a new or an uncertain writer, you are well advised to schedule your writing.  Spontaneity is generally poor time management. Without a time set aside, it becomes too easy to “forget” or find an excuse—”I’m just too busy today.”

Discipline will produce results that spontaneity cannot keep up with.

Be ambitious. Set a challenging (but not discouraging) pace to work on your memoir. This can happen when you schedule your writing. 

Today is as good a time as any to begin the habit of writing every day whether you are seeking to do a rough draft or polish your text.

Set time aside to do the writing. Schedule your writing.

You HAVE to show up for the work. Wishing you were writing or feeling bad that you’re not won’t get your memoir written. The more time you set aside, the more you will likely write and the more likely you will be to meet your goal of writing a first draft of your memoir quickly—even in a short a time.

To help you schedule your writing, journal these questions to find the best writing time that works for you:

• your own rhythms: when do you most feel like writing? Usually, that is when you are most fully awake and energized.
• the time available to you in your day: consider work, family, and other obligations. This may require negotiating with the people you live with.
• external circumstances: availability of a writing space, outside disturbances, quiet time in the house, etc.
• a deadline by which you must or want to finish the memoir: this may require writing for longer periods than you might otherwise want. There’s nothing like a deadline to focus your writing.

In conclusion

As I often tell my coaching clients: you feel like writing today, you write: you don’t feel like writing today, you write.

Use every tool available in your writing kit. One of them is definitely to schedule your writing for better time management.