Time IS on Your Side

Time Management is an important element every writer must conquer. It doesn’t matter if you have plotted the best novel mankind will ever read, because if you can’t get the damned thing finished – who cares?

So what if your day job takes all your extra time, or the kids are whining, and your husband is just being a shit. Here’s a cyber phone card. Go call someone who cares because, obviously, you don’t.

No one has ever procrastinated more than me. I am the Queen of Procrastination and have ruled my domain with an iron broom. That was until I figured out I would be a wannabe for the rest of my life. Do you?

So as you sneer and grab for the mouse to click off what you can’t bear to read, let me tell you STOP! Baby, unless you pull yourself together, you’re never going to make it in this tough industry.

The solution is so damned easy it’ll make you wonder why you never figured it out.

Set a daily writing goal. Sounds good, right? It is.

1 – Make a to-do list every morning, i.e. Today I will write 100 words on chapter five.
Don’t be stupid, list out what is feasible for your life pattern. So you only have ten minutes before work or dropping the kids at school, think about your manuscript while you’re driving. Well, not so in-depth you wrack up the car but enough to keep your mind flowing. Every moment you spend thinking, plotting, doing a characterization, is time spent on writing.

2 – You can’t write and drive, you snidely say. Correct, and remember, you can’t text either. Buy a pocket tape recorder and talk your story. How tough is that?

3 – Carve out a specific time in the day or night to write. I don’t believe in getting up an hour before the family to work. My mind isn’t ready, my body is too tired, and my meager attempts suck, but it just might work for you. You’re the only one who knows the best time for you to pull it all together and write your hundred words.

4 – Don’t beat yourself up if you can’t meet your schedule because you have to attend Aunt Bertha’s funeral. Do feel guilty if you blow off the day by watching TV or napping. The longer you stay away from writing the harder it is to go back again. Trust me, I know this for a fact.

Learning the art of writing is an on going process. Please email me sloanetaylor@comcast.net with any suggestions or favorite websites you want to share.

Speaking of great websites, here's one you should check out The Black Phoenix Band. Award winning, romantic suspense author Sarah Grimm, yes she's related to the Brothers, built this site to promote her new series of novels. Ingenious and has proven successful. We'll discuss promotion in the near future.

Have a good weekend. I'll be back Monday with paranormal author Lauren Hunter and her latest release The Coffee Shop, a book you need to read. Until then...

Happy Writing!

Sloane Taylor
www.sloanetaylor.com