A Writing Commitment You Can Keep When Life Gets Busy
This is for all the writers (and hey, all the humans) who do that supremely human thing once the bloom as left the rose of the shiny new project: we stall out. The momentum flags. Writing falls to the bottom of our to-do list, below laundry, weeding, and cleaning out our email inbox.
Like many of us, I have big energy around the shiny new things and set out, totally gung ho, with plans and the best intentions. And then life and the real world intervene, and it gets harder to sustain. Streaks get broken. Those unanswered questions now need answers and they’re not easily found. I fall down my beloved research rabbit holes.
We tend to think negatively when this happens. I’ve failed, I’ve messed up the plan, I can’t/shouldn’t/didn’t [fill in your blank].
Sure, you did. Yep, you should. Yes, you most certainly can. Quit making yourself feel bad. It’s fine. As I used to tell my co-workers, we’re literally not saving lives. It will be fine.
I learned this the “hard” way when I became a project manager. I took a complex venture, broke it into its component parts, arranged them in the order in which they needed to be done, factored in how long things took, padded that with some extra time because (see above), and voila! Schedule! Smooth sailing from here on out, right?
Pffft. Never. Ever. Not once.
But this thing that initially frustrated me became one of my greatest joys (and strengths). We hadn’t failed. We just needed to adjust and problem-solve as to how to get back on track.
That’s how this book-writing adventure goes. There will be times that the words are flowing like water from a tap. Other times when they are hard but sparkling like gems. And still others where every word is a struggle or there are no words at all.
When it’s all happening, milk that for all its worth. Squeeze in some extra time when you can. Try to build a routine around the things that inspire you, so when you sit down, your brain knows it’s time to write.
When it’s hard, mix it up. Sit somewhere new. Jump into a different scene or do some background writing about your character(s).
Whatever you do, don’t give up. Take breaks when you need them. But don’t quit!
AND build a plan. It’s going to ‘break’. You’ll have to adjust. That’s fine!
When I was deep into my last revision, the plan—my commitment to my writing—was to work for 2 hours every week day on my book.
That amount of time fit into my schedule and allowed me to keep my other commitments and get all the other stuff done too
I made significant progress within that amount of time and felt really good about the work I got done
It was probably the extent of my attention span for that kind of work (unless I was at a critical turning point or close to a milestone—then I can exhibit superhuman levels of concentration and productivity, while not sleeping, lol.)
This means that I can take two consecutive days off without feeling guilty or weird about it. And you know what that’s great for? Those subconscious machinations that buzz around when you’re not actively probing for answers. A little space = a great mental reset.
I know we don’t all have the privilege of structuring our schedules so neatly, but you can find a version of this that will work for you. It doesn’t matter if it’s 15 minutes once a week—progress is what counts!