Raise your hand if you’ve ever thought, Oh, I will get some writing done on the weekend.
The weekend! The Holy Grail. The time where all gets postponed to some FUTURE place where you will magically have more time. I am guilty of this. And then the weekend comes, and I have a house to clean and groceries to get and exercise to do, and much-needed appointments to attend to, and so it goes. The time slips by. And my book doesn’t get written.
The only time your book ever has a chance of getting written in right now. At this moment. Here are three simple strategies to start writing TODAY. This very moment:
First. Start somewhere. As the saying goes, “If you don’t know where to start, start any damn place.” Do something. Take any action you can take, even if it’s small. Set a timer and write for 30 minutes right now. If that’s too long, write for 7 minutes. Commit to writing for 7 minutes every day. That’s all you need. Ask, yourself, what is one action you can take today to carve out time towards your dream? For me, today, it’s this newsletter article. Then, I put a poll up on Facebook to get some feedback about my book title. I reached out to the graphic designer about doing the cover. This is not ACTUALLY writing the book, you’ll notice, but taking an action — no matter how small — gets you one step closer. I wish I could get more of my clients to realize this. This is the creative process in action. And it is the only way any of my creative work has ever gotten done. Getting past one hurdle, swathing through the resistance, and getting your project moving along to the next phase. Like that old saying, “How do you eat an elephant?” One bite at a time.
Second. Be ferocious about your time.
Protect it. Defend it. Bare your teeth. Treat yourself like a client. Schedule time to write and then honour that time. This is sacred. Do not schedule appointments or let other people step onto this space. Again, 7 minutes a day is all it takes. It may take you a year, but 7 minutes a day is better than nothing.
Third. Create deadlines and external accountability.
Leave yourself no wiggle room. If you really want to play hardball, set your book launch date, BOOK A VENUE, put a deposit down on that venue. Host an event where participants have to buy a book instead of a ticket to attend the event. Set your book up for pre-sale and start selling advance copies. These are all actions that will get you moving in the right direction and make it less easy for you to just say, “I don’t have time to write my book” or “I can’t do this right now.”
Right now I am sitting in my car with my laptop perched against the steering wheel writing this blog post. I am 10 minutes early for my next meeting. That 10 minutes is enough to get me started. Are they ideal, inspiring writing conditions? Definitely not, but I have learned to take my writing time wherever I can get it. And guess what, my business still runs… and now my weekends are freed up to enjoy some of the living I work so hard for. And isn’t that why we got into business in the first place??
I will be talking about this and more in my webinar:
“The 18 Minute Outline: The Simple Method to Create Your Bestselling Book”
Date: Wednesday, March 15
Time: 10 am MT/ noon EST
Click here to register: http://nycwriterscamp.com/webinar/
If you want to experience a breakthrough with #1, get yourself on that webinar to experience my Rapid Results Outline. Bust through writer’s block, resistance, procrastination, lack of time, or whatever you’ve been dealing with in under 20 minutes. You may even… dare I say it… enjoy it!
To your success,
Karen Rowe
#1 International Bestselling Author
