Time Management For Writers

It’s  7.07 on a Monday morning. I have just got on a train to Plymouth where I’m going to  be  interviewed (live!) by the BBC. I could be reading the novel that’s in my handbag. Or I could be catching up on my sleep after an early start. But instead my fingers are flying across the keyboard of my travelling laptop (kindly passed onto me by my youngest son who has upgraded).

It’s all part of time management for a writer – although the very phrase sends shivers down my spine because it reeks of numbers and organisation. I am not a numerate person. But when it comes to my writing, I’ve learned to make every second count.

Take the train journey. I used to regard myself as one of those people who ‘couldn’t’ write on trains. Surely it was impossible to concentrate with chatter and announcements around me? Besides, my laptop was too heavy to cart around. But then we moved way out of London and I found myself making regular long journeys to family and work. My son stepped in with his computer and – spurred on by an impending deadline – I made myself type. Before long, I was in a world of my own!  Now I love a trip to London because it means three hours of uninterrupted work each way. (In fact, in a recent article about my office space, I described the Quiet coach in a single seat without a table because it’s easier to focus. )

‘I don’t have time to write’ is a refrain which I often hear – often from people who suggest that writers spend most of the day lying on a sofa, waiting for inspiration to strike. In fact, we’re more  like  moles. We will dig and dig until we find a gap.

Over the years, I’ve learned to become a chameleon, depending on circumstances. When my children were growing up, I was a full-time magazine freelance journalist . My life was a juggling act of school runs, homework, deadlines and marriage. The novel which I had always thought I would have written by then, was still in my head due to lack of time.  When my youngest went to school, I realised that if I didn’t get cracking, it might never happen. So I carved out two hours a day (by turning down invitations and non-essential commitments) and began writing. It wasn’t easy – especially at weekends when I’d leave the children with my then- usband and nip upstairs to the spare room to write. Not everyone understands that urge to write when everyone else is outside in the garden or doing family stuff. But if I hadn’t taken that time out, I wouldn’t have started to hone my craft. Selfish? Quite possibly.  ‘Most writers are,’ says a best-selling friend of mine.

The trick, I’ve learned, is to use each minute of your time but to be prepared to adapt if life rearranges your  timetable.  When my youngest was fourteen, my very long marriage broke up and my regular column on a woman’s magazine ended. The children and I moved to another house and, for the first time in many years, I went out of the house to work (as a writing tutor at Oxford University and a writer in residence of a high-security male prison).  I no longer had time to write during the day. Until then, I’d considered myself a ‘morning best’ writer –  unlike some of my friends who worked best with a large glass of wine and moonlight streaming in through the window.

That’s when I learned that you could force yourself to adapt. As soon as my youngest went to bed after the usual homework hassles, I burned the night oil until 1 or even 2am. I was exhausted every morning. But I also found that my change of routine meant I wrote in a slightly different way. I noticed things I wouldn’t have done, such as night sounds; the feel of the cold damp air through the window; the lights that flickered on and off in the street.  Who was that person walking down the road, speaking into his mobile phone at 1.47am?  And why was he holding a dog lead without a dog in sight? It gave me the idea for a short story….

Fast forward eight years and I now have a different life. I’ve married again. My husband is retired so he is at home all day. My children have left home. I have a whole day to write. Bliss. Except that it’s easy to fritter that time away. I call it writer’s law. You can actually write as much in two hours of frantic activity as you can in a day. So I still impose that strict timetable on my life.  If I wake up early.  I’ll start writing at 5 or 6am when the house is wonderfully quiet and the phone is unlikely to ring. I call it my ‘golden hour’. Usually, though, I get up at 7am; Twitter for ten minutes about my new book with Penguin; jog along the front with our dog; go for a swim in the sea; have breakfast with my husband; Twitter a bit more, check for urgent emails and then – ignoring all calls and social media – write until lunchtime. In the afternoon, I’ll have a break and then edit my work and tackle emails and admin. I often continue after dinner but usually stop by 9pm for a box set episode with my husband.

If you’ve got small children, you might well think I have all the time in the world to write. But I’ve got another challenge coming up.  Come September, I’m going to be looking after my baby granddaughter for two days a week. ‘How will you manage?’ ask my friends. I’ll do what I did before. Work for three days a week and also evenings and weekends. If anything, it will probably add to my writing rather than distract from it because of my new experiences.  And I’ll be spending special time with my granddaughter. A writer needs a life (and love) too…

Since writing the last paragraph, I’ve had to change trains. En route, I overheard a fraught conversation between a couple. It’s given me an idea for what I call a ‘plot-pusher’ in my next chapter. If I’d been at home, as I usually am, my heroine wouldn’t be doing what she’s about to do now.

Must go now or I might miss my connection. (Another plot twist? Especially if the heroine did it on purpose!.  Happy writing.

TIPS ON HOW TO MAKE TIME WORK FOR YOU

Take a good look at your day. What can you cut out to make some writing time? I have a friend who wrote during her lunch hour in the office. Her passion spilt into her working hours too and she got sacked. But the book got published and she is now a best-seller. (Sorry – daren’t name her!)

Talk to your family and friends. Explain how much writing means to you and that you’d really appreciate it if you can have some peace at such and such a time. They may or may not understand.  It could lead to some big decisions.

Accept you may not have as much time as you like right now. But use what you’ve got to the best advantage.

Switch off wi fi etc. My travelling lap top is intentionally disconnected from  the internet.  I don’t answer the landline when writing but I do have my mobile nearby in case the children need me.

Be open to ideas. Someone invites you to do something at a time when you usually write? Instead of an interference, this could be an opportunity to get more ideas. Call it research.

Everyone needs a day off.  A writer friend of mine always goes to an art exhibition once a month on a Friday. She calls it ‘an artist’s date’.  On Friday mornings, I break my writing regime and play tennis instead.

Write down a schedule for a typical day eg what you do and for how long. Now take another look at it. Can you cut certain things out to free up time for writing? Are you spending too long at the computer?

Save time for the boring stuff. Once a month, I go through my invoices and stuff them in the right envelopes for my accountant.  I also have a massive office clearout twice a year – often during that quiet time between Christmas and New Year. Very therapeutic.

Experiment with different writing times and places to see what works best for you.  It’s character-building for both you and your literary cast!

Going through a black stage in life? When the removal men came (during my divorce), I retreated into a corner with my lap top and wrote an unrelated short story which then got published. Writing is a great distraction. And it can benefit from the tough stuff.

Not written for a while and finding it hard to get back? Ease your brain in with this exercise. Write down a simple sentence and then change it with power words eg ‘She walked down the street’ could become ‘Angela ambled down the street’. This might grow into  ‘Angela raced along the cobbled stones, aware of the footsteps behind her.’ Or ‘Angela raced along the cobbled stones. One more step and she’d get him!’ I feel a story coming on…..

Working full-time? Set aside one night a week for writing and, say, three hours every weekend.  It all adds up. By the end of the year, you could have a novel.

It’s not the length – it’s the quality. Some writers can tap out 2000 words in two hours. Others 500. Do what is best for you.

Take time to get up and stretch. I like to lie on my back and put my legs in the air. Not one for the train.

Force yourself to switch off.  This applies to writing and social media. I won’t say any more because I’m still working on this one…

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JANE CORRY is the author of  the best-selling ‘My Husband’s Wife: a psychological suspence/ domestic noir about love, marriage, murder and prison. Published by Penguin. £7.99. Also available digitally.

Follow Jane on Twitter @JaneCorryAuthor

Tags: crime fiction, featured, time management, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing