It is very easy to stumble into a working environment that is not healthy to yourself, and ensures you are not producing satisfactory projects. It can be difficult to create a writing schedule when life seems to constantly get in the way (especially if you have a day job, run a blog, or have other obligations). Soon, you find yourself being tired every time you sit down to write, and your mind might not be able to focus on the writing at hand. That is why we have gathered several different approaches to help you organize your time better, and produce better writing as a result.
1. Stop working on multiple projects
If you’re having trouble producing satisfactory results and you’re working on multiple projects, then you should consider dropping some of them, or organize your days in such a way that you only work on one project a day. This might not be as easy as it sounds, especially if there are deadlines you need to meet. However, you will be working faster, and thus writing more. For example, the result after three days while working on three different projects might seem satisfactory, but you may not have written anything of good quality, thus increasing the time you will need to edit the work on each project. This happens because your focus is split, and your writing will be more effective if you separate the projects and work on them on different days.
2. Planning your storylines, articles, blog posts
Taking five minutes before you begin writing to write down the things you want to focus on while you write, will save you plenty of time and make you feel better as you write. You can do this even if you prefer to write as you go and discover your story, because you can adapt the planning on the miniscule level of a scene. Of course, planning beforehand what you want to focus on will work best when you’re writing articles and blog posts, which saves plenty of time and allows you to concentrate on writing the piece.
3. Organize your time
As we said in the introduction, life can get in the way, and it will not care if you have a day job to get to and need to finish writing soon. On the other hand, if you are writing for a living but have no working hours and planned days, life will get in the way more often than not. This is why you should try to organize your time of day, or create your own working hours and hours where you can focus on other things.
4. Separate the writing and editing processes
One of the many setbacks a lot of writers face is editing their writing as they write. Of course, this method might work for you and you might find yourself producing excellent writing as a result. However, editing a paragraph immediately after writing it will decelerate your writing, because you are going back to edit all the time. You might find yourself being more productive if you let go of editing, and separate it as a process from writing and creating. Editing is less creative and more mechanical as a task, where you need to focus on misspelled words and grammar errors, and is faster than writing. Separating these two processes will lead to a better use of your time and energy, and improve your creativity, since you will not be going back every few minutes to rewrite and edit the previous paragraph.
5. Take days off
You need to plan days off during the week, and have at least one off day. Just because you might not be doing physical work, it doesn’t mean the writing process isn’t exhausting, especially when it is done extensively. You need time to recharge your batteries and refresh your mind. Additionally, there is a great benefit in choosing the same day, every week, as a day off from writing. You will begin to train yourself to write on the other days, and soon, you will start to always have inspiration to write on those days, while your chosen day off will become a true rest.
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Georgina Roy wants to live in a world filled with magic. As an art student, she’s moonlighting as a writer and is content to fill notebooks and sketchbooks with magical creatures and amazing new worlds. When she is not at school, or scribbling away in a notebook, you can usually find her curled up, reading a good urban fantasy novel, or writing on her laptop, trying to create her own.