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If you’re like me, you have several writing projects going at once. A novel maybe, one or two short stories, an article, a freelancing gig or two, a blog. And if you’re like me, you find it hard to achieve balance in your work.
Maybe your freelancing takes up most of your time because it’s your money-maker, but the novel is where your heart lies. Or maybe you spend all your time blogging, and you’re not making any money from your work.
If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know that I struggle with just this type of problem. I have a novel in the works and a short story that’s languished for weeks. Lately I’ve done a lot of freelancing, selling some articles and an e-book. My problem is finding time to do both, to keep the paying assignments going (because the goal is, after all, to write full-time), and to make progress on the fiction.
Here is what I’ve been doing to achieve that. If you’re trying to juggle multiple writing assignments, then you may find these helpful.
Multitask
If you’re researching for an article, think about how you can turn it into two or three articles. By changing the perspective, you can reuse much of your research and knock out those extra articles in a relatively small amount of time.
Likewise, if you have to do some research for a piece of fiction, think about how you can turn that research into an article or even a blog post.
Consider writing a short story around one of the characters in your novel. It will help you to fill in that character’s backstory. You can also use the short story as a promotion tool for the novel when it’s published.
Write an e-book about something (maybe one of those topics you’ve researched) and sell or give it away on your blog. Use it as a tool to drive traffic back to your site or promote your other writings.
Eliminate other time wasters.
Right now, the television is NOT on. My husband is helping a lot with housework. I’m even avoiding working overtime at work as much as possible. Here are some ideas for making some more writing time in your day.
- Cook more than one dinner at a time and freeze it for later
- Takeout! There is no shame in bringing home a pizza.
- Ask for help. This is probably the most important tip, and for some people, the toughest one.
- Slack up on the housework or give yourself one or two housework-free days. This is one I have no problem doing.
- Get up a little earlier/stay up later. I drag myself out of bed early and write 500-1000 words first thing. That’s a great day to start off the day.
Set specific goals.
I used to say that I’d “work on the novel.” Now, I set specific daily word count goals, depending on what other writing tasks I have going on. That goes for all my writing. My goals for the week look something like this.
- Write 1000 words on the novel each day
- Write and submit one article to Constant Content
- Submit one bid on elance
- Write 3 blog posts for each blog
For an added bit of motivation, post your writing goals publicly, as I have here in the past, and post how well you did on achieving them.
Track goals.
It doesn’t really do a lot of good to set goals unless you keep track of whether you’re meeting them. I review my goals a couple times a week and rework my schedule to try to achieve everything I’ve set out to do.
This is especially important if you’re setting long term goals, for example, finishing a novel in a few months. Keep track of how you’re doing and set milestones along the way so you can be sure you’re keeping on track.
Be realistic.
If I consistently fail to meet the goals I’ve set, I take an honest reassessment of my writing and what I’m setting out to do. Am I wasting time somewhere?Am I setting unrealistic goals? There’s nothing wrong with backing off a little if you need to. Remember, before anything else, writing should be fun. If you’re not enjoying yourself, you’re doing something wrong.
Rewards!
Whether it’s a day off or a little something you’ve been wanting, reward yourself for the work you’re doing. Curl up with a good book, take an evening off and go to dinner, do something not related to writing to relax and give yourself a little pat on the back.
I love knitting, so after I reach my word count each night, I knit on this cute little cardigan I’ve got on the needles.
Now, I’m going to go get my 1000 words today.
