Better Writing Days

Gerard over at The Presurfer put up a link to this article by Peter Economy (great handle) which details seven things you can do to improve your work day. I agree with all of them, but I think writers (especially those who work from a home office) face some additional challenges when it comes to productive work sessions.

We always consider the things we can do to make the work better but rarely think about how to make the work better for us. After seventeen years of writing full time from home I've hit on some things that always work for me. So here are:

Seven Things I Do to Improve My Writing Day

1. Meditate: Because writing requires intense focus meditation before I begin work helps me to clear the cobwebs and distracting thoughts out of my head. Simply sitting and relaxing in silence for fifteen to thirty minutes also works.

2. Unplug from Everything Else: I began writing before there was an internet, which is why it's always been easy for me to log off and stay off the internet during my writing day. With all electronica in our lives now I think it may also help to switch off the smart phones, tablets, television, radio or any other powered source of distraction and temptation.

3. Set/Follow Reasonable Goals: Setting a goal to write a certain number of words each writing day may not seem very artistic or organic but it does help with productivity and establishing a writing routine. I've always done this and to this day it's still the primary reason I finish every project. If you don't care to set a daily goal by word count you can also go for page, scene or chapter goals.

4. Take Short & Long Breaks: For every two hours I write I take a ten-minute short break, and after four hours I take a thirty-minute long break. Working for hours and hours at the computer without taking a break is definitely unhealthy and an open invitation to burning out.

5. Keep a Running To-Do-Later List: While I'm writing I always think of something else in the story that I've already written and now need to change/fix/add on/edit out etc. Stopping to backtrack and do that wrecks my forward momentum, however, so I keep a notepad in my work space and jot down brief notes about whatever I need to do and save them to work on during my evening editing session.

6. Stretch Regularly: Sitting for long periods of time is the new health horror, and that can definitely be said of writing. I'm now working part of the day at my makeshift standing desk, but I also stretch regularly whenever I sit and work. Web MD has a nice list here of some stretches and other exercises you can do at your desk.

7. Have a Reward Ready: I work better and more cheerfully if I have something to look forward to doing or having once I'm finished for the day. Usually it's sewing or quilting, but I also use books I want to read, music I want to listen to or even a nice hot bubble bath to motivate me.

What is something you do regularly to improve your writing day for you? Let us know in comments.

Excel Your Goals

When you're constantly working under one or more deadlines, keeping track of your writing progress is important. I think most writers have some system they use with their work, such as jotting their numbers on a note they tape to their monitor or posting and updating one of those Nanowrimo WIP trackers on their blogs. One of my writer friends uses a virtual calendar/reminder program to nudge him on his goals; it actually sounds an alarm every morning, too.

I'm hardly an expert with Microsoft Excel, but it's enough like the ancient Lotus program I trained on as a bookkeeper back in the Jurassic era that I can use it without making a mess of things. In addition to my budgets and general ledger, I also use it to run simple writing quota spreadsheets that track my progress and project my work schedule (to see a larger version of this screen shot, click on the image.)

I decided to start using a spreadsheet because I usually write more than one novel at a time, and having all the counts on one sheet allows me to plan my time better. I also used easy formulas so all I have to do is record the total wordcount for each manuscript at the end of the writing day, and Excel does all the rest.*

I'm presently tracking two novels under deadline, mainly as both are due to my editors on the same day. After labeling the columns with the file codes I use for the titles, I list the ms goals for each one (whatever the wordcount limit for the entire novel is.) In this case both books have a limit of 85K.

"Current" represents the total wordcount I've completed for each manuscript. To determine how much I have left to write, I subtract current from ms goal, which results in the figures in the "Left" row.

"Weekly" calculates what my weekly wordcount goal is for each book. This is calculated by dividing "Left" by the number of weeks I have left to write (in this case, seven. This is the only formula I adjust weekly; next Monday I'll change the seven to a six. I'm sure you spreadsheet experts out there can figure out a better formula for this row.) If you have different deadlines for different novels, remember to adjust your weekly formulas accordingly.

"Per day" divides the "Weekly" figure by seven to show how much I have to write daily for each book.

"Pages" divides the "Per day" figure by 250 (this because one manuscript page is roughly equal to 250 words.)

To update the sheet, at the end of the writing day I put in my new current numbers, and Excel recalculates everything for me. At the end of the week, I adjust the number of weeks I have left by -1, and that's basically it.

The numbers can seem intimidating at first, but you'll find they can be motivational, too. If I want to take a day off, I know with one glance that I have to write an extra ten pages to "buy" the time for myself. I also like seeing the per day figure drop when I write consistently over quota, so I usually do more than I strictly have to. Also it helps to know what you are committed to already before you take on any other writing projects, and having all your counts in one place can give you an exact look at what your current workload is.

One thing you don't want to do is neglect a spreadsheet. If you set up a daily quota sheet like mine, be sure to update it at least a couple times a week, and keep an eye on your projected work figures. If your per day or per week figures are starting to climb then you're not making your goals, and you need to address that well before you get too close to your deadline.

Also, always be sure to leave enough time in your writing schedule for things like days you may be doing things other than writing (family events, holidays, etc.) This goes for the other tasks you need to do for your novel. For example, I edit whatever I write daily, so all I need when the book is finished is time to do my final read-through edits. If you prefer to wait to do all your editing until the manuscript is finished, allow an extra week or two (or however long you think it will take you) of time before your deadline.

Now it's your turn: do you have a system for tracking your writing progress? Are there any programs you find particularly helpful? Let us know in comments.

*If you'd like to copy my spreadsheet and the formulas I've used, you can download it in excel format here. Just remember to change the totals for your current and ms goals, and adjust the formula for the weekly count to reflect the number of weeks you have left until your deadline.

Afterburners

As we're in the last days of NaNoWriMo, and Bryon has pulled into the lead in his manuscript race against Dave, and I'm about 72 hours away from finishing my last book of the year, I think we should share whatever we do or use that helps us make it to the finish line.

My never-fail five:

1. Nice big reward: When I finish this book, I get to take off an entire month to enjoy my family and the holidays. There's not a better form of motivation than pending vacation.

2. Daily motivators: If I make my target quota for the day, I'm allowed an hour of reading for pleasure or a long hot bubble bath. If I surpass my daily quota, I get the bath or the book plus my guy gives me a back rub (his way of helping out.)

3. Serious breaktime: The pace of working during a deadline week is relentless and grinding; the last couple of days are spent in different levels of hell. I always work eighteen hour days, but I combat exhaustion by actually working only twelve of those hours, and breaking them up into three sessions of four hours on, two hours off.

4. Nutrition: I live on salads, fresh fruit and whole-grain English muffins, in small portions, for the duration of deadline week. I stay away from sugar, caffeine and meat. So far I've already killed two half-gallons of orange juice and God knows how much chilled water. I never eat before I work, only after when I take a break (also a nice side motivator to get me through a session.)

5. Well Refills: I listen to a lot of music during deadline week, usually in the car as I'm making school rounds but I also have my CD player close at hand. This book has me listening to a lot of Shelley Phillips, Branford Marsalis and Bach's Masses and Magnificats.

So what do you guys do to make it through crunch time? Tell us in comments to this post by midnight EST on Thursday, 11/30/06. I'll draw ten names from everyone who participates, and send the winners a signed copy of the mass market edition of Afterburn. Giveaway open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

Uno

I always get a grin out of articles by the literati, who are appalled at the idea of an author writing a book every year. As if writing novels was the same as having illicit sex; and the more you do it, the more of a slut you are. As with all sorts of talent, those who don't have it are always stumbling over themselves to tell those who do how they should use it.

And as the song goes, it's in the way that you use it, not how little or how often.

There is some weight to this argument for the writer; if not for the reasons the literati would wash our brains with. Most of the published authors I know would be overjoyed to slow down. Wouldn't we all like to live the life of Lethem, and have a half a million free bucks to blow on good equipment, research, promotion, and all the other expensive stuff? Not that such a thing ever happens to writers who actually need the money.

Thing is, without a bankroll, or a very patient family or partner willing to support you, a writer hoping to keep writing full-time can't afford to slow down. And then there's the competition, which is getting outrageous. The working writer has to put out his or her best at least once, preferably twice, yearly simply to stay in everyone's little black book.

If you want to do that, you should start making some time commitments.

Work up a writing schedule based on what you want to accomplish over the next twelve months. Let's say, for example, you want to write two books a year, and that means producing 200K. If you write five days a week, and do your research, outlining, editing and rewriting on the weekend, that requires writing about 770 words per day, or three pages. At an average of an hour a page, that's three hours of writing time. Double that, write six pages, and you can produce four books a year -- if you can devote six hours per day to writing (for those who want to pace me, you need to produce three to five pages per hour, or thirty to forty pages per day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.)

This is not possible for everyone, and I wouldn't presume to say it is. For some writers, writing to a schedule is simply impossible because their lives are too erratic. Others can only write when mental/physical/spiritual conditions are perfect, and I understand those conditions can't be scheduled. You guys really have it tough, but I imagine all that chaos and spontaneity pays off in other ways for you all.

I'll be talking more about ways to increase your productivity this week, but in the meantime check out SF author William C. Dietz's article How to Write a Book A Year (.pdf file format) here. He has some good pointers on how to handle the work of writing one book per year while holding down a job, hanging with your family, having a life, not going insane, etc.