Structuring Writing Time

#writersforum  #managewritingtime @tracynovinger

Structure with flexibility works for me.

I was ready, anxious to start on my third book. I knew that this time, if I wanted to survive this business of writing, I needed to manage my time differently. For the first two books, I paid a high price not only in total hours of life invested but in some physical complaints, as well. A head full of ideas would wake me around 4:00 AM and I broke away only to answer a call of nature and get coffee to bring back to my desk. I would work at my computer until around 9:00 AM, then I would shower, dress and go to our office for a full day. I would often compulsively write again after dinner even though I don't work well at night. My back hurt me. I felt like I should always be writing. I can't--or won't--do that anymore, for several reasons.

• I have never had a problem making myself work; I have a problem making myself stop.
• I have always needed adequate exercise for a sense of well-being and especially to maintain my terminal optimism. I neglected that.
• In addition, I know I need to plan daily exercise in an effort to maintain the "physical plant"--with the hope of keeping my brain synapses sparking bright for as many years as possible. 
• I want to make sure I spend time on personal relationships, and especially with my very supportive, much-loved husband.

I was with a group of authors around the first of this year and someone mentioned something which I made a note to read. What a revelation it was! I wish I could remember where I read the useful suggestions to manage one's writing time. If the source bubbles up to me at some odd moment I will add it to this in a Post Script.

I set up a plan to fit my personality and lifestyle: I am most productive in the morning, worthless late afternoon and evening. Below I outline how I now structure writing time and what the structure does for me.

How I structure:

1. I get up around 6:15 AM, have breakfast, check email and dress for the day. I report to work in our home office at 8:00 AM Monday through Friday. I say I go to "work" at 8:00. I use the word work because it is my work.
2. I don't schedule any appointments in the morning; I don't make or take phone calls.
3. When I start writing at 8:00 I use the timer on my iphone. I set it for 45 minutes of writing. When it rings I get up from my desk and reset it for  a 15 minute break. I have rules for my break: Did I say that I don't make or take phone calls? I  don't engage in anything that requires me to  actively think about anything other than what I am writing. I eat a piece of fruit or I stretch. I make another coffee with the espresso machine. I might put a load of laundry in the washer and get a flash of insight about exactly what it is that I want to say about something or an effective metaphor might come to me--my unconscious mind still working and making creative associations . I don't put clothes in the dryer. The buzzer will interrupt me when I am not on break. I dry clothes in the afternoon.
4. The spirit of my rules is rigid, the letter flexible. Sometimes I set increments of 40 minutes and 10. Just because. The variation is refreshing. Other times I have wrapped up something I have been deeply into and stop 30 or 40 minutes early for the day. I know that I require variety within the four hours I set aside as sacred so that I do not feel trapped.
5. After work in the morning, I happily live the rest of my life.

My mantra: Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.

How I benefit:

1. I no longer get terrible "computer-back" spasms and pain in my upper back. My lumbar spine is not stressed or painful.
2. I exercise six days a week in the late afternoon and I choose one day off. I feel well, mentally and physically.
3. My breaks truly make me more productive and what I am writing is better sooner.
4. I don't feel guilty, antsy, like I really need to be writing when I am not. I have a gratifying sense of satisfaction.
5. My husband, on his own initiative, doesn't interrupt me when I write. Now we talk on breaks--which, by the way have become mutual breaks. Since we share two open office spaces that are contiguous, he started responding to my timer and works at his computer in the same increments that I work at mine. He likes the system. Also a compulsive worker, he says he no longer gets "computer-back" either! 

There are so many talented writers out there. I benefit from knowing about your experiences and methods. Whoever you are who shared your structuring strategy with the rest of us, thank you for the gift you gave me!