Tag: time management

From the IU mailbox:

I love your advice about motivation, writing every day. Nevertheless, I finished the first draft of my novel last year and have been editing/rewriting it ever since. The 2-part question is: 1. When you say to write every day, how much does editing impinge on the time for writing, or does editing and writing count as the same thing, at least as far as the advice goes? 2. If I should be working on a new writing project to keep the writing juices flowing, how can I keep focused on finishing the editing of the first one as well, and not let it be just another abandoned project?

I believe this is a common issue with writers: how do we balance the many aspects of our work? Obviously we can’t simply write creatively all the time; once we’ve finished our first draft, the project still requires much tweaking and noodling. And does that tweaking and noodling “count” as writing? I’ll tell you how it all shakes out for me, and you can give us your take on it in the comments below. Continue reading “Making Time for Writing and Rewriting AND Life”

If you ever spend any time in online groups where there are a lot of early-stage writers, you will find a few common threads. First, of course, they are constantly looking for reassurance. Will someone read through the first paragraph of my novel? Or, I want to write a book about an alien invasion, but they turn out to be cute little bunnies. Will anyone buy that book? Another common malady is what I call First Chapter Syndrome. Writers will have first chapters done for twenty-six books, but have exactly zero chapter twos.

I’ve always thought I might be susceptible to that same syndrome, so I’ve always made myself finish one project before starting another. Oh, sure, I had the “idea file” where I stockpiled future ideas, but I never allowed myself to actually begin to write any of them until I was done with my current project. That way, I figured, I’ll never be one of those guys. Continue reading “Juggling Multiple Writing Projects”