Now you have set out the bare bones of your story, you might want to consider putting together a writing schedule. This is useful if your writing project has a set deadline, for example, the closing date for a writing competition or a publisher's specific submissions window. Of course, if you're writing for fun, or if you don't plan to have your project finished by a set time, and it will be completed when it is completed, you can skip this step.
If you want to set a schedule here are a few points you might want to jot down the answers to somewhere:
> When does the submission window open?
> When does the submission window close?
> When does the writing competition or challenge begin?
> When is the last day you can submit to the competition or challenge?
> Are there any other dates you need to be aware of? For example, if the competition has a fee to pay, does this change depending on when during the competition you submit it (early bird offers)? Or perhaps if you submit early, you might be allowed to submit more than once, or qualify for feedback from the hosts? Always read FAQs, Terms and Conditions, and information on How to Submit thoroughly, so you know what is expected.
Noting milestones now will give you some idea of how to structure your time.
The next thing to consider is how much time do you have available to write, and plan accordingly. If you have an hour every weekday evening, but no time at all over the weekend, how will that affect how you spend your writing time? Or, perhaps you have no time in the week to write, only at weekends, but are there other, non-writing tasks that you have to make time for too?
Also note, if your schedule is not set in stone, and you have little idea what you will be doing from one day to the next, that's fine too. No writer's writing process is the same as another's, and we each need to find the way which works best for us. Instead of day-specific targets, you could aim for weekly ones, and consider your writing time as hours set aside a week, rather than regimented writing slots on particular days.
So have a think about this and decide how you want to perceive your time. Then decide if you want to set out a stringent timetable, using perhaps a monthly calendar to see at a glance what your schedule is, or maybe by making a note of your writing days in your diary. If you want less structure to your schedule, setting out particular goals such as: Mon, Wed, Fri are writing days, or setting aside 4 hours for writing a week, or hit a particular word count target a day, a week or a month, might be beneficial...
Exercise: Set out your schedule. Consider the time you have available, any deadlines for competitions / challenges / submissions windows, and how long the story you're about to write needs to be. Set out word count targets and writing goals, if you use these and find them helpful.
Remember to set yourself achievable goals, because when you stick to them, you feel good about yourself and your writing. And, if you achieve more than the minimum you set for yourself, that is wonderful. On the flip side, trying to hit impossible goals and not reaching them can be demoralising. Challenge yourself if you wish, if that pushes you on to reach higher, but don't set yourself up for failure.
YOU ARE READING
Preparing to Write
Non-Fiction...A Workbook of Prompts and Exercises to help you prepare for writing your story... So you are about to embark on writing your book. Perhaps it's your first book. Perhaps it's your twentieth. Whichever it is, it's always a good idea to create for y...
