Make Time for Writing During NaNoWriMo
August 21st 2010 21:08
In my second NaNoWriMo Newbie Guide post I asked if you are willing to sacrifice something to write your novel. Today we'll look into fitting writing a novel into your life. You'll have to make some changes to your daily routine but chances are there are a lot of times during the day when you can make time for writing.
The first step is to look at how you spend your time. Examine your daily schedule and identify the things you do you can control. Which activities can you cut out occasionally or completely in November? Where can you save time by streamlining your processes? Free up as much time as possible and set it aside for writing the novel.
How do you get to and from work? Public transport? Can you write on the way? What about writing during your lunch break?
You'll not get around sacrificing some things for writing come November. Decide what is important to you, for example going to the gym, but make sure there is a good reason why some things are non-negotiable. Be ruthless about everything else. Don't watch TV unless it's a show you really enjoy watching. Consider recording it as a treat when you made your daily wordcount. What about cutting down on sleep? Get up an hour early or go to sleep later than usual to get some writing done.
If you live in the U.S., you'll also have to take Thanksgiving into account. If you're tied up with the family that weekend, will you be able to sneak away for an hour or two to write? If not, try to get ahead on the wordcount before Thanksgiving and be prepared to make up for the lost time afterwards.
It's not impossible to find time to write if you want to find it. You'll have to make sacrifices and you should expect sleep deprivation. Which doesn't sound fun but once you hold your completed first draft in your hands, you'll (probably) find it was worth it.
The first step is to look at how you spend your time. Examine your daily schedule and identify the things you do you can control. Which activities can you cut out occasionally or completely in November? Where can you save time by streamlining your processes? Free up as much time as possible and set it aside for writing the novel.
How do you get to and from work? Public transport? Can you write on the way? What about writing during your lunch break?
You'll not get around sacrificing some things for writing come November. Decide what is important to you, for example going to the gym, but make sure there is a good reason why some things are non-negotiable. Be ruthless about everything else. Don't watch TV unless it's a show you really enjoy watching. Consider recording it as a treat when you made your daily wordcount. What about cutting down on sleep? Get up an hour early or go to sleep later than usual to get some writing done.
If you live in the U.S., you'll also have to take Thanksgiving into account. If you're tied up with the family that weekend, will you be able to sneak away for an hour or two to write? If not, try to get ahead on the wordcount before Thanksgiving and be prepared to make up for the lost time afterwards.
It's not impossible to find time to write if you want to find it. You'll have to make sacrifices and you should expect sleep deprivation. Which doesn't sound fun but once you hold your completed first draft in your hands, you'll (probably) find it was worth it.
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