Organisation and Time-Management


So, despite dropping out of the A-Z challenge two weeks ago (*waves to everyone who is completing it today * Congrats!) I admit I’ve been slacking a little on the writing front. 

Some of that is laziness on my part *slaps wrists * and some of it is having a crazy busy week with real life responsibilities.

I’m trying to get focused again this week though. 

One thing I have to balance is when and when not to write. 

I not only have to juggle real life responsibilities, but sometimes I also have to admit when life is getting a little too much and take a few days off to recuperate. 

As I’ve mentioned on my blog before, I think writer’s block is a myth. But I do think you can burn yourself out by taking on too much (see me trying to do the A-Z challenge on two blogs) and need to take a break from time to time. 

What I sometimes struggle with though is knowing the difference between when I genuinely need a break, and when I’m just being a lazy arse. 

This is when I have to "Patrick Rothfuss it", and I recalled this brilliant quote.

"Writers block is a myth. The myth stems from the belief that writing is some mystical process. That it’s magical. That it abides by its own set of rules different from all other forms of work, art, or play. But that’s bullshit. Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block. Teachers don’t get teacher’s block. Soccer players don’t get soccer block. What makes writing different? Nothing. The only difference is that writers feel they have a free pass to give up when writing is hard. When writing is hard, I grit my teeth and I do it anyway. Because it’s my job. Or sometimes I don’t. Sometimes it’s hard and I quit and go home and play video games. But let’s be clear. When that happens, it’s not because I’ve lost some mystical connection with my muse. It’s because I’m being a slacker. There’s nothing magical about that." - Patrick Rothfuss, Feb 23rd, 2011.

As part of my "Patrick Rothfussing it" and not slacking off, I made myself a lovely little timetable this week; detailing what I should be doing between when I get up at 7:30am and when the kids go to bed at 8PM (after that the time is mine and I can use it for whatever I want; be it writing, playing video games or bumming around online). It helps that said timetable can be placed on my beautiful Nexus 7, so if I’m tempted to play Simpsons Tapped Out, it’s there to remind me what I should be doing.



Of course, all this is subject to change, and I have to be flexible if something unexpected comes up - like Youngest coming down with chicken pox or the ASDA delivery forgetting some of our groceries - but when things go smoothly, this is the schedual I'm trying to stick to this week.  

Another thing I’ve done this week to organise myself, and hopefully make my writing more productive, is created a table (yes, I love tables, okay?) of the 8 chapters/ 18k words I’ve written so far; each one listing the chapter, page numbers, word count and a brief summary. I’m hoping this will help with editing, so I can clearly see what needs cutting or rearranging.


I've asterisked out the summaries, because I don't want to reveal too much about the story before it's complete, but you get the general idea. Going by the three-act structure plan I have, I estimate I've got about 2-3 chapters left to write in act one. It seems to be working out well so far, and I have a little tidying up before I'm ready to move onto act two.


 What are some ways you organise your time and your writing? I’d love to hear other tips! 


 Hope everyone is having a good week. I’ll be hopping around your blogs shortly to catch up on anything I’ve missed, but please feel free to let me know in the comments if there’s something important I should check out.


20 comments:

  1. I don't believe in writer's block either. If you're organized and prepared, you shouldn't have to deal with it.
    Daily word count goals work for me. My last two books were written during NaNo and BuNo. That keeps me motivated and on track.

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    1. NaNo and BuNo are excellent motivational tool, they've helped me in the past too.

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  2. Ooo I like your chapter chart. Might try that out. :)

    I don't try to give myself a timetable. In the past my timetables have always gone to pot because of sudden things happening. I just try to write a lot in the holidays and sign up to NaNo to get most of my first drafts written.

    One thing I'm trying to do more of is writing by hand so I can write a little bit during my lunch break at work or when I'm watching something on TV. I like to work when something is on. And I can my notebook with me if I go out for the day and find a place to write. :)

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    1. Thanks. They're really helping me keep track of things.

      As I said to Alex, NaNo is a great motivation tool. :)

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  3. Whoa, you really are organized. That's awesome! I wanted to have a daily word count goal this year, but it didn't work out. I love the Rothfuss quote. He hit it right on the nose. When I get to a hard part, I go clean or read or something, and then I just push through it. It might be not so great, but it can be fixed in revisions.

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    1. Word count goals are good, but sometimes I put too much pressure on myself with them.

      I couldn't agree more, Rothfuss got it just right with that quote. :)

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  4. I love your organisation and charts. I might try and do the same for chapters and word counts - great idea.

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    1. Thanks Vit! It really is helping me keep track of everything.

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  5. This is an awesome way to organize your writing time. That quote makes a good point about teachers and so not having blocks. But I still think there is something to writer's block, sometimes I can't write anything down despite sitting myself down to do it. And sitting for a long time, not secretly skylarking.

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    1. I used to think that about writer's block too, but then if I sit down and write and nothing comes, I try something else. Even if it's organising chapters; as long as I'm working on my novel in some way.

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  6. I like the idea of writing your book in acts. It worked for Shakespeare!

    A timetable sounds like a good idea, if things go awry, at least you have that in front of you to work your way back to.

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    1. It did indeed! It helps me because I can just focus on one act, not get overwhelmed by the whole thing.

      I don't stick rigidly to my timetable, and allow for unexpected things, but it does stop me going "Oh, I have an hour of free time, what should I do. I know, I'll play video games." LOL

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  7. I'm currently in love with what I learned from Save the Cat. Now I'm mapping my books early on and making them better and stronger. I love that. Time schedules is the only way I can handle things. There's just so much. All the time.

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    1. I thought Save the Cat was just for screen writing. Does it help for novels, too?

      I am discovering the wonder of plotting and mapping things out, it's making my writing stronger too.

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  8. YAY! I'm glad you're back. I missed you and your posts for the tail end of A-Z.

    You are so organized I love this new "schedule". I would have to get very creative and super flexible, because I don't generally do well when I plan. I am much better on the fly- and stealing little bits of writing time when I can. The summer will afford me a whole lot more time to get work done. I hope. *Fingers crossed*

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    1. Thanks Jen! I did miss everyone by dropping out of the A-Z. I can't wait to catch up with everybody.

      Fingers crossed you can get a bunch of writing done in the summer. :D

      I do try to be flexible. The schedule works best at times when I've got nothing planned, and I can just look at it and go "Oh, I've got writing time now", rather than faffing around online! LOL

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  9. Great post; it couldn't have come at a better time for me. I'm not suffering from an absence of words but from a lack of enthusiasm and excitement in what I am writing. I'm also co-writing a fantasy novel and that's now in its second year; it's at the editing stage, which is a lot of close text work and not much new wordage. I should start something new on my own but as I've said, nothing seems to get me fired up right now. Might have been a bad month to give up caffeine.

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    1. It's really helped me to stay focused and fight off writer's block. Sometimes you do need time away though. I find it especially hard to switch from editing brain to writing brain, so perhaps that's why you're finding it hard getting into something new.

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  10. Oh, you know I love getting organized. Just seeing those charts made me happy! LOL

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    1. A girl after my own heart! I get a ridiculous amount of pleasure from my charts!

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Thank you for taking the time to read this entry, and comment. I really appreciate it.