Writing a Book in a Year

When I wrote my first novel, my goal was simply to see if I could get to the end. Did I have what it took to write a whole novel? I had no plans for daily word counts or a particular time frame. It was a simple goal. Write a novel.

Like many other authors, I worked full time, so I wrote in the evenings and at weekends. I had days or weeks when my motivation lagged and I didn't write. I see from my spreadsheets that book took me between eighteen months and two years to write and edit.

I'm horrified to realise the next two novels actually took me longer, although the word count is significantly more. They both took closer to three years including the elapsed time between writing and editing, and looking for agents or publishers and making the changes they suggested.

At this point I felt good about my experiences and the things I'd learned from writing the previous novels. For a long time I'd wanted to see if I could write and edit a novel within a year, and this seemed like the right opportunity. It was the first time since I started my initial novel that all my other projects were finished and I wasn't in between writing and editing something else. It was time to set that goal.

I definitely didn't choose the best year. We've moved three times since February and while I've still been contracting, all my work this year has been in company offices, so I haven't had the luxury of working from home and choosing my own hours. However, I have accomplished my goal *loud cheer and happy face * AND Still Death is a great book. 

I think there's much to recommend writing a book in a shorter length of time, or at least to be continuously in the world of your book and characters. This is why authors talk of the discipline of writing every day and living closely with your characters. You are more open to recognising the inspiration and ideas that come, and you don't have to waste time getting back into the groove of your story. My goal now is to write the next book in nine months (and it would be good if I could come up with a title much sooner!). Watch this space!

Still Death will be available from 8th November, but you can pre-order it from the retailers below.  After the launch it will be $2.99 but at the moment you can pre-order it for 99 cents.  

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Apple Store
Smashwords
Kobo Books 
 

Adventures in the Outside World

A few days ago workmen descended on a neighbouring house, armed with noisy machines and a loud radio. They made it almost impossible for me to think, let alone work. Desperate measures were needed. No, not murder most foul, but a trip to the outside world.

I was editing at the time, a reader-experience type edit. I wanted to read as much of the manuscript as possible in a sitting, and hopefully not find anything to change! The impossible dream.

To be honest, doing this at home wasn’t working. Every time I found something I wanted to change, I’d jump across to the laptop and make the changes, and then find myself reading the manuscript on the laptop, or worse, opening a browser window to look at something else.

I put the latest copy on my Kindle, and took myself off to the beach. For a few hours I became one of those people sitting in a car at the beach, rather than walking or enjoying the scenery. It worked really well. It was a weekday morning, and reasonably quiet. The children have just gone back to school after the long summer holidays, so most of the people around were either walking dogs, or exercising. 

I was able to read in peace, mark up changes on my Kindle without getting side-tracked, and every now and again glance at the beautiful view before me. Then came the man in the van. The man in the van was listening to music, which actually wasn’t the problem, his out of time accompaniment on the van door was more annoying. The man in the man had a large dog, which may or may not have been fed that morning. Call me a coward if you want, I won’t disagree. 

I had been in the car for a couple of hours, and so I decided it was time to stretch my legs. I went for a walk along the beach, and found a quiet bench where I carried on with my reading and note-making. This happy state of affairs continued until I decided that benches aren’t that comfortable. It was now late morning and significantly hotter than when I’d arrived. Definitely time for some refreshment.
 

I’ve read many blog posts and articles about writers working in cafés, but until then I hadn’t felt the need to try it. Most cafés seem to be noisy, and as you can tell from this post, I prefer to work somewhere quiet. Yes, you can call me picky as well as a coward!

I spent a productive hour in the café – reading and note-making. When lunch hour loomed and it became busier, I returned to the car. The man in the van had departed, presumably to annoy someone else, so I finished my work there.

A complete read-through, notes, and time outside. What a great day.

Working Smarter – Action Triggers

A number of years ago I attended an NLP weekend.  One of the things I found  interesting was anchors.  An anchor is a trigger that leads to an emotional response. 

Hearing and smell are senses that link very strongly to memories or emotional states.  Think of the times you’ve heard a record and you're instantly back at an event in your past, or a particular scent recalls an experience.  Anchors are similar, except you are deliberately associating a particular stimulus with a specific feeling or response. 

We can create our own action triggers for writing.

For example: sitting down to write at the same time each day (once you’ve discovered your best writing time), using the same scented candle each time you write, or using the same pen and notebook for your creative writing (and not for anything else). 

Some organisations have dress codes for work.  The rationale behind this is that if people are dressed smartly, they have a more professional attitude at work.  I haven’t seen any research for this, and don’t have any strong feelings either way, but it’s something to take into consideration when discovering what works best for you in being creative and productive.  You may turn out your best writing dressed in pyjamas, or prefer to work after having a shower and being comfortably dressed.

Having goals and a schedule, and finding out where, how and when you are most productive and creative will help you on those days when you don’t feel like writing, and can increase your chance of success – it certainly won’t harm it.

Working smarter links

Big Hairy Audacious Goals

Set a schedule

Manage your time

Where and how you work
SMART goals
 

   

Working Smarter - Where and How You Work

In the last few posts we've created some big hairy audacious goals, broken them down into achievable tasks, scheduled the best time to actually work on the tasks, and found the best way for us to be creative and productive.  

So where do you work?  Maybe you have an office at home, or the spare bedroom, or a corner of the living room.  My spot is the dining table, which is the reason we don’t invite people over for dinner very often!

I like the dining table, it’s big enough to spread out my papers when I’m developing training materials, or looking through a draft. Though there are times I’d love it to be a little larger.

While I don’t have a proper desk, I do have a good chair. If you’re going to be spending hours working you need to be comfortable.

The room is light and airy – this is important to me, though it might not be so important to you.  From my seat I can look out onto the deck, and see the birds eating the strawberries they think we grow for them.  There are a lot of trees and beyond that a glimpse of the sea.

There is research that shows we need space around us to have ideas and be creative.  I guess that's why we often find ourselves staring out of the window when we're trying to come up with ideas, after all the sky is a very high ceiling.

I can work with a certain amount of mess around me, my type of mess that is, with my papers in different piles so I can still find what I need quickly.  But I do enjoy the clear out at the end of a project, when I go through all the papers and electronic files and get rid of what isn’t needed.  Too much mess and I just can’t work, the same goes for mess in my head, as in jobs that need to be done. That’s why I find a schedule so useful, if the tasks have been written down and a time scheduled, I can clear them out of my head and not worry about them.

I’ve read a lot about the delights of writing in a café, but it doesn't work for me.  I need quiet.  If it gets too busy or noisy around the house, either the other inhabitants or neighbours, I put on headphones and listen to some music. I have it just loud enough to drown the outside noise, but not so loud it’s intrusive.  Actually music is another interesting thing. A lot of writers swear by creating a specific sound track for their novel or project.  Again it doesn’t work for me unless I’m driven to it because of other noise.

What I’m saying is, try different things. Find out where, when and how you are most creative and productive, and use that knowledge to help your writing.

There isn't a magic solution that works for everyone, or just one way to work.  There is only the one ring rule you need to follow.  

Keep writing.  Regularly.

Working Smarter - Managing Your Time

In the last post I talked about writing regularly and scheduling the tasks that are linked to our goals.  Time is our most precious commodity, so it is something we need to manage.

Let me make a confession here - I’ve never been much good at multi-tasking.  I used to feel a little guilty about admitting this, as most people seem to think of it as a good thing.  Yes, I can multi-task the automatic, easy things, but when it comes to an important project I need to concentrate on it. 

I’ve been encouraged in reading a few research studies that say multi-tasking makes us less efficient than when we focus on one project at a time, and that managing two tasks at the same time reduces the brainpower available for either task.  Apparently multi-tasking also boosts our levels of stress related hormones - not a good thing.

‘An interruption that breaks your concentration can cost you 10-20 minutes of lost focus.’   Imagine how much little you’re going to get done if you keep on flicking onto Facebook or Twitter or (add your own favourite site here!)

We all have lots of different things going on in our lives, and I often find myself flitting from one thing to another.  For simple automatic tasks it probably doesn't matter too much, but when it comes to those goals we've set, like finishing the first draft, or editing it, we need to be stricter with ourselves.  When we stop (for just a minute!) to look at an email or a website, it takes us time to get back into what we were originally doing, and of course that minute is never just one minute.

I used to teach personal efficiency programmes so I know most of the theory - though that doesn't necessarily make me great at actually doing it!  I started timing the little 'breaks'. You know the ones - I'll just look at this email, just have a quick look at Twitter/Facebook etc.  If you've ever timed yourself on these secondary activities you know how long they can take.  You promise yourself it will only be a moment, but it never is, and added to that is the time it takes to get back into your original task.

I mentioned in the last post about the eight weeks I had to finish Lives Interrupted.  At that point I decided to test a different way of working.  I worked for fifty-minute blocks, doing nothing other than write my novel.  I didn’t look at email or websites (not even for research), no phone calls, and I set an alarm so I didn’t have to worry about the time.  My focus was amazing.  I was often surprised when the alarm went off, and was stunned at how much I wrote during each of those fifty-minute periods.

I’d then have ten minutes to look at emails, take a break, get a drink or whatever else I wanted to do.  Then I’d set the alarm again and work for another fifty minutes.  My word count using this method was far better than it had ever been.

Setting these blocks of time worked whether I was writing the first draft, or editing subsequent drafts, and I use it for my contracting project work.  Developing training materials or a technical manual also needs extended periods of focus and concentration.

Now you might be thinking, if an interruption loses you time in focus why do you have a break at all.  The reason for that is we each have a limit on how long we can work without losing our focus anyway.  It will be different for each of us, but generally it’s around an hour.   

Work to your strengths, both in the time of day you write and the length of time.  I can jot down ideas for scenes, or snatches of dialogue in odd five-minute spaces, but I need a longer period of time to get into my writing.  

The next post we'll look at where and how you work.

Take yourself seriously and other people will.  

Working Smarter – Set a Schedule

When I first started as a freelance writer, I worked out I had a window of eight weeks to complete my novel before I needed to look for contract work.  Believe me there’s nothing like that kind of deadline to keep you focussed. 

When I tell people that I work from home they often comment on the discipline needed so you don't waste time. If you're working on something in your spare time, you might think this doesn’t apply to you as you don’t have a deadline, but time is our most precious commodity.   

If you ever intend to publish a novel and make money, or sell short stories or articles, then it’s a business and you can’t start early enough in being professional about it.

Over the years I've worked from home, and before, I’ve learned a number of things about working smarter, and in the run up to the holidays and preparing for the New Year I thought I'd cover some of the things I do.

The first one is to set goals. It’s the old but true, if you don’t know where you’re going… but I’ve already talked about that here, so let's look at some of the others:

• Write regularly - Set a schedule
• Manage your time
• Where and how you work
• Track Progress 

 

Write Regularly - Set a schedule

An important part of working smarter is thinking of yourself as a professional writer.  This can be difficult when the majority of your income doesn’t come from your novel/short stories/articles, and also if you have family or friends who talk about ‘your little hobby’.  But if your ambition is to be a published writer, then you need to start thinking like a professional.

A professional writer writes. Regularly, and not just when the muse attacks!

Think about your dream for a moment. The phone rings, it’s your agent or a publisher offering you a contract.  Once you’ve stopped floating around the room the details start to sink in, it’s a three book deal, with deadlines. You’re going to have to start writing, regularly. Everyday!  You’re going to have to come up with ideas for these other books. Oh, and they want you to build an online presence.  They suggest blogging regularly…

If you don’t take yourself and your writing seriously, then no-one else will. 

 

If you don’t have deadlines to meet, then set some yourself.  An important element of making goals and deadlines is to set yourself up for success rather than failure.

Setting a word count can work, but maybe setting a specific period of time for writing might be better, until you get a feel for what a good writing period looks like in word count.

When I set my goals I also schedule the time to complete them rather than just hoping I’ll find the time.  Believe me, you will never FIND the time, it’s like looking for lost keys.

Once I've set a goal I then outline the tasks needed to reach it, and estimate how long each task will take. You might only have 30 minutes a week for a particular task, but it's in the calendar.

I’m one of those awful people who wake bright and early, and I'm much more creative earlier in the day.  So if at all possible (unless I have a very tight work project deadline), I schedule some writing time early in the day, and leave time in the evening or late afternoon for tasks that don’t require so much creativity.  You might be the opposite.  Work to your strengths. Don’t do what someone else does, unless it suits your best working style.

I wasn’t joking about not waiting until the muse attacks. If I wrote only when I felt inspired I’d never finish an article or blog post let alone a novel.  If I’m developing some training material or a technical manual for a client I sit down every day and work at it.  We need to do the same with our own writing.  I’ve found that by writing regularly I stay in a creative state where ideas come (or I am more aware of them), and I’m a better writer when I write regularly.

Making new habits is difficult to begin with.  Whether it’s an exercise programme, eating healthily, or writing a novel, it feels like climbing a mountain.  That’s why breaking your big goal into smaller chunks, with milestones along the way, makes it more manageable. 

One of the things I did when I started running was to mark on the calendar the days I went for a run. I found I liked seeing the ticks on the calendar.  On the days when I wasn’t so motivated knowing I’d have a blank space on the calendar helped push me.  Just recently I found a couple of posts on the same subject.

Make a schedule, get writing, and don't break the chain.

Next post I'll talk about managing time.

Big Hairy Audacious Goals

I first came across BHAGs during the years I had a real job. In case you hadn’t guessed it from the post title BHAGs are Big Hairy Audacious Goals.

In commercial terms they’re goals intended to change how a company does business, or even the way they’re seen in the industry or profession. BHAGs are generally bigger and bolder than regular goals, and make you work way out of your comfort zone.  Now I’m not suggesting you have to go out and change your life, but maybe there’s something you really want to do, and to accomplish it is going to take a huge change.

During the time we were preparing to move to New Zealand, I found people’s reactions very interesting. We were moving to a country we’d never visited, where we didn’t know anyone, and were ‘giving up’ up good jobs in the hope we’d find something on the other side of the world. The reactions were anywhere on the scale from ‘you’ve got to be out of your minds,’ to ‘wow how great, wish I had the courage to do that.’

To be honest we'd never considered we were being courageous.  To me the early settlers were courageous, if things were bad we could get on a plane.  We saw it as a great adventure. It was something we wanted to do, and we didn’t want to reach a point where we regretted not giving it a go.

What's she talking about you’re thinking. This doesn't apply to me, I’m writing a novel, or short stories to sell to magazines.  But do you have an overall plan?  Have you decided what success looks like for you?  Will you recognise it when you get there?

I used to make goals that were more like New Year resolutions. They were fuzzy, needed more stretch than a limo, and didn’t have any actions attached to them. I wouldn’t have known when I’d achieved any of them.  

Eventually the message got through to me and I started writing down my goals.  I added steps or tasks that gave me the route to achieving each goal, and also milestones to mark significant points on the way.  I now also add how I’m going to celebrate the success of reaching that milestone.

When I first started running, Pete, the trainer, put out four small cones about 25 metres apart in a square. We ran one side of the square, walked the second, ran the third etc.  After a session of that, the square became a rectangle and we ran the long side. Then the rectangle became bigger. You get the idea. We started small and gradually worked out way up to running around the field. If Pete had told me that first time to run around the field I’d never have made it. The goals he set stretched me, but were also achievable.

Celebrate successes and enjoy the journey. It’s not all about the destination.

Working From Home

Today is the first of November, and for writers everywhere November means Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month), but don’t worry as this post isn’t actually about Nanowrimo. To be honest I’ve never taken part in it, though I do think that writing a first draft as fast as possible is a great idea. The main reason I’ve not yet taken part is that I’ve never been in the right writing place – I’ve either been finishing a first draft, editing, or last year getting to grips with KDP, Smashwords and CreateSpace.  Yes, I agree, pathetic excuses, but I’m just not a multi-tasker when it comes to major writing or work projects.

I’m fortunate in being able to work from home most of the time, with only occasional projects requiring me to work from a customer’s office, and I was interested when I saw this article earlier today.

In my last fulltime job prior to working for myself, I was asked to put together a business case allowing staff to work remotely depending on their job role. In writing the business case I did quite a lot of research, and as part of that I met with staff and managers from several companies that had already implemented flexible working conditions.

The conclusion I came to was pretty much the same as shown in the link and the Stanford Business report mentioned in the article. 

Working from home isn’t possible for all jobs and won’t suit everyone, but it is a great option for some people.

A few years ago I spent a couple of days in another city working with some trainers on a project. We hadn’t met before, and in getting to know each other I mentioned that I usually worked from home. At first they all said how lucky I was and they’d love to do that.  Then after a moment one of them said. ‘Actually I don’t think I would like to work from home. I’d really miss meeting up with everyone in the office.’  Another then said they'd find it hard to get their work completed because of household distractions.

These are valid reasons for people preferring to work in the office environment.  We are all different and need different surroundings and motivation.

Personally I love working from home, but then I’m always amazed at the number of writers who seem to enjoy (and thrive) writing in cafes.  It wouldn’t work for me.  I was away a few weekends ago, and had a lovely breakfast in a very busy and noisy café. It was great for people watching, but writing! 

Wouldn’t it be boring if we were all the same?

Time Goes By...

Little people view time very differently to taller people. 

'Are we nearly there yet? How long will it be?' 

'Half an hour.' 

'How long's half an hour?'

Another conversation.

'Can we get on the plane yet?' 

Once on the plane. 'When it's taking off?' 

Once in the air. 'When will we be there?' 

'An hour.' 

'How long's an hour?'   

And so it goes.

I'm mostly an organised person, and was born with, or acquired at a very early age, an aversion to being late for appointments, meetings, planes, trains or similar. I have no problem turning up late(ish) for informal social gatherings, though my husband has difficulty with even the possibility of lateness for anything *sigh.* 

Time is a very fluid substance - holidays fly by, a job you dislike doing takes ages. The little people think that December goes by soooo slowly, while adults feel the opposite.

Truth is we each have 24 hours in every day, minus the 6-8 hours we spend in bed. It's how we allocate and use our waking hours that makes the difference.

Years ago I used to teach a time management, clean desk/office course so I know all the talk, though that doesn't necessarily correlate to perfect actions. 

I wouldn't win a gold medal for procrastination, but I'd be a good contender for bronze. There are good days when productivity is high, and there are those, let's just call them, not so good days.

What's the difference between them? 

A plan and some goals. They can make the difference between activity and productivity.

Keep Moving

One of the simplest ways I've found to get over a slight mental stumbling block, whether on my creative writing or non-fiction, is to move away from the computer.  Often it's just the equivalent of a walk to the water cooler.  For me this is to the fridge, or tap to fill my water bottle.  

I can't count the number of times I've mulled over a section of dialogue, the assessment questions I need to create, or a topic for this blog with a white fog drifting through my head.  I walk away from the computer and something comes to me.  It's like magic.

I change my perspective and my thoughts change.

I like that thought on a bigger scale as well. Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change.

For a while every time I've thought about my WIP I've thought about how stuck I am with the plot, and yes, I'm over the 'losing the plot' jokes!

So I'm taking my own advice and changing my perspective. After all I'm only stuck if I decide I'm stuck and don't try to move forward.

Brain Stress

I'm not good at multi-tasking.

I used to say this apologetically, feeling there was something wrong with me, or that I was owning up to some deep dark secret, but now I say it proudly.

Over the past couple of years I've read enough to know that jumping from one activity to another is not necessarily a good habit.

This is an interesting infographic on digital stress and our brains, and what happens to our concentration when we are multi-task - certainly something to take into consideration when the tasks are important.

The suggestions in the What Can Help section aren't new, but I've found implementing similar initiatives has been very useful in helping my productivity.

Limiting the number of times I check email and use the internet, together with completing similar tasks at the same time helps immensely. I've also found the kitchen timer very useful in helping to keep me on track with work. I set it for fifty-five minutes and keep writing until the alarm goes off. I then have a five-minute break to have a drink/snack, stretch, and do something different to keep my inspiration up. Every second or third break (depending on what else is going on), I take a slightly longer break and use it to check emails, or do a group of those similar tasks.

Since doing this I've been a lot more productive when writing, and if you're keen on knowing how productive you are, you can check your word count every hour.

Rest, Recovery and Pushing Boundaries

A few years ago I worked with a personal trainer of the ‘keep-fit’ gym variety.  From her I learnt the necessity of pushing beyond my comfort zone to stretch my capabilities, and also the importance of rest and variety.

For example rather than just walking or jogging at the same pace all the time, intersperse that with walking faster, or running flat out for a minute.  

Recovery/rest periods are as important as the workout, as it allows muscles to recover and build, and doing different types of exercise helps to stop us getting bored, and also means we work different muscle groups.

If you're wondering whether this blog has been taken over by someone else, no, it's still me, and there is method in my madness.

When I'm really pushed by a deadline, the first thing to go is my morning exercise or walk, and I head straight to the computer and start work.  I also tend to forget to take small rests to change posture/position, or to stretch muscles.  At the very time I need to work smarter, what I'm doing is working harder, and the stupid thing is - it doesn't work. 

Staying at my desk for longer, not taking breaks, or stretching doesn't help me produce more.

The intermittent recovery period is as important in the mental/work aspects of our life, as it is in the physical side.  Thinking uses up a lot of energy.

To stay focussed, inspired, and to work positively, we need short rest and recovery periods, together with a brief change of channel.

When up against a deadline I feel a self-imposed pressure to work through any tiredness or lack of inspiration.

I asked myself where I am when I get my inspiration, whether for my own writing, or for non-fiction contract work.

I would bet it's in similar places or situations to most of you reading this.  I get inspired when I'm out walking, exercising, in the shower, or sometimes I'll wake up with the answer.  Most times it's not when I'm in front of the computer.

Yet I will stay at the computer struggling to create an assessment for training material, or trying to come up with a way of making a dry piece of information interesting for the people who will take the course.

Here is a quote from Leonardo da Vinci.  'Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgment will be surer since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose power of judgment.  Go some distance away because then the work appears smaller, and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and a lack of harmony or portion is more readily seen.'

Who am I to argue with da Vinci?