Time Management Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Writing As A Second Career

Think Small To Overcome Writing Fears

When I ask people what stops them from writing a novel, they often tell me about their fears. Fear of success, fear of being judged, fear of failure.

While there’s no one-size-fits-all way to conquer fear, I’ve found one approach nearly always helps:

Think Small.

The Small Picture

Eight years out of college I decided to attend law school at night while working full time. I talked to an acquaintance who’d gone to law school the same way, and he gave me the best advice I ever got.

He told me to think only about what I needed to do for the semester I was in, and to forgot about how I was going to get through the entire four years. That would be overwhelming, he said.

I realized he was right. I had already decided to go to law school, so I knew where the finish line was. And all I could really affect was my work in each class as I took it. Which meant there was no point in looking too far ahead.

The same advice applies to writing.

Once you decide to write a novel, thinking too much about how much time it will take, whether you know enough about writing to finish it, or whether anyone will like it when it’s done undermines your motivation.

One Scene At A Time

No one writes a novel in one sitting.

Now and then you hear a story about someone hiding away for a few weeks or a month and banging out a best seller. Maybe it’s true. And maybe those stories are missing something — such as the author is a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who wrote 8 novels before and spent 2 months outlining this one.

The point is, however quickly or slowly you write, every novel is written one scene at a time. (Or, literally, a word, line, or page at a time.)

So if you find yourself worrying about whether you can finish a novel before you’ve started, ask yourself if you can write one scene that might belong in that novel. Or, if that feels overwhelming, one paragraph that might fit into a scene that might fit into your novel.

Breaking it down that way makes it easier to find time to write. And, perhaps more important, to enjoy writing and let go of what others might think of the finished product. And if you decide later a scene isn’t working, it’s easy to change, cut, or move it around in your story.

Plotters, Pantsers, and Writing Fears

I fall somewhere between a plotter – someone who maps out the entire novel in advance – and a pantser. A panster, also known as a discovery writer, wings the whole writing process.

For me, knowing the key plot turns before I write speeds my process and alleviates my fears about finishing, as I know where I’m headed.

But regardless how much you plan, you still can only write a scene at a time. For that reason, if I’m in the middle of one scene and have an idea for another, I type a quick note to myself about it in boldfaced brackets, then keep going with the current scene.

That note often becomes the starting point for my next writing session or my next scene.

Give it a try and see whether thinking small helps.

That’s all for now. Until next time –

L.M. Lilly

P.S. If you want to try out the plot turns and story structure I’ve found helpful, download these free story structure worksheets.

Find Time To Write By Scheduling Realistically (not Aspirationally)

Okay, whether we’re talking about how to find time to write or anything else, I feel sure aspirationally is not a real word.

But I bet you get what I mean.

Most of us are overoptimistic, or aspirational, about how much we’ll get done in a set amount of time. Which often means that unexpected issues or events hijack the time we set aside to write.

So how do you ensure you find time to write?

Start by blocking your time for the year, but do it realistically. Which means:

Expect the unexpected
Plan for things to go wrong
Schedule breaks

What Does It Mean To Block Your Time?

By blocking I mean scheduling your time in batches of tasks for a long period, such as six months or a year.

It’s not about putting To Do lists into your calendar, though. It’s about setting aside chunks of time for the things you want and need to do.

Some blocks will be the same every day or week. For example, every weekday I block 7-7:30 for yoga or other exercise. I block time to prepare for the podcast I host and record (Buffy and the Art of Story), time to record, and time to edit.

When I’m teaching for a semester, I block out the hours I’ll teach, my office hours, and three hours for grading assignments and preparing the week’s lecture.

I also block writing time. Right now it’s three afternoons a week.

Find Time To Write & For Fun

For some days or weeks, though, I override all the regularly scheduled programming to take time off.

How does that help me find time to write?

I used to think it wouldn’t. So I never included time off in my calendar, figuring I’d relax when I got everything else done. (Which never happened.)

In other words, when I didn’t plan breaks or fun, I put both off. And ended feeling so burnt out that I’m sure I got less done in the time I set aside to write.

That happened because we all need downtime, and writers and others pursuing creative endeavors especially need it. Because that’s when our unconscious minds relax and come up with new ideas. It’s when creativity occurs.

So include time in your calendar to do things you enjoy simply because you enjoy them.

Plan to spend time with the people you love. To do nothing. Or see a movie. Read a book.

Whatever is fun for you, make at least a little time for it, even if it means you write a little less.

Expect The Unexpected

Most things that throw off our schedules aren’t really unexpected.

Maybe the particular problem is. You don’t know the car will break down this week, or your son will need to stay home from school ill, or your in-laws will visit, or just as you finish that report your boss wanted the entire computer network will go down and wipe it out.

But you do know that life almost never runs exactly as expected or planned.

Instead of being surprised each time and having to steal time from your writing schedule or your free time, block out an hour each week to finish things you didn’t get to because the unexpected happened.

Are you saying you don’t have an extra hour each week? If so, I believe you. I’ve been there.

But the reality is that over time you’ll use that hour per week whether you block it or not. The only difference is by not planning for it, you’ll feel even more stressed because you’ll think about everything else you meant to get done during it.

In my view, better to take that hour away from something else when you’re planning. Then when things go wrong, you can say, “Oh, right, good thing I planned some extra time.”

Recognize Overoptimism

The other reason it’s so hard to plan an hour a week for overflow is that most of us plan to do too much.

On the one hand, it’s great to set high goals and expectations. If I aim to finish my novel in six months and instead I finish in nine, perhaps I’ve still written the book a lot faster than if I had aimed for a year.

But it you get a lot done yet also always feel you’re racing the clock or falling behind, you’re probably being unrealistic and overoptimistic. And likely all that’s doing is stressing you more rather than helping you find time to write.

Instead, consider blocking 1.5 to 2 times as long as you think something will take into your schedule. So if you think you can finish a novel in a year, block out a schedule that lets you finish in eighteen months.

If you get done faster – wonderful. Next time you can shave off some time.

And if you get done as planned – also wonderful. You were realistic! And less stressed.

That’s all for today. Until next time—

L.M. Lilly

P.S. For more on how to find time to write when life events interfere, check out Writing When Life Throws You A Curve.

Write Early and More Easily

Writing early in the day — first thing if possible — helps most people write more regularly and feel less blocked. That’s especially true if you work another job, have another career, or are managing other significant responsibilities.

Why does writing early help? I cover a few reasons below.

If you’re at a place in life, though, where you simply can’t get up any earlier, or you don’t have a regular schedule, there are still ways to find time to write.

Try the spare change method or the other ideas in Tips For Writing Novels While Working More Than Full Time.

Writing Requires Decisions

You’re probably heard of decision fatigue. It’s the idea that the more decisions you make in a day, the harder it is to decide what to do (or buy or eat).

Basically, you get worn out.

And, as Amanda Brown, the Homepreneur, pointed out recently in an interview on The Creative Penn, writing is all about deciding. What characters to write about. Who they are. What happens next.

All of us make decisions all day long. So if you wait until the end of the day to write, you probably won’t feel much like making a lot more decisions about your fictional world.

It’s Easier To Write Early

Also, because you haven’t been making decisions all day, you’ll have more focus and energy to decide to write first thing in the morning.

In contrast, at the end of the day it’ll be a lot harder to decide to sit at your keyboard rather than simply going with the flow of whatever’s happening at the moment.

Early Helps You Stick To The Plan

We all know the old saying about the best laid plans of mice and men.

If you aim to write later in the day, there are so many more opportunities for other things to arise that seem — or truly are — more urgent and important.

For many of us, the only time we can be fairly certain we’ll have 15 or 30 minutes free is if we get up earlier. That way we can write before anyone else is awake or anyone expects us to do anything.

That’s also why so many people exercise first thing in the morning.

And, as with exercising, if you can write every morning before you do anything else, it’ll become habit. Which means you won’t need to decide at all. You’ll just do it.

That’s all for today.

L.M. Lilly

Dealing With Tech Glitches That Steal Your Time

As a writer, even if you’re not yet publishing, you’re certain to run into tech glitches. A task that you thought would be quick and easy (or at least one or the other) turns out to be complex and time-consuming.

If you’re like me, when that happens you probably:

feel frustrated and overwhelmed
find yourself running late for your next appointment or task
swear at your laptop
do all of the above

But none of those things makes you feel better. Or helps you get anything done faster.

I know. I’ve run into this problem often the last few months while planning the launch of my first podcast.

So how do you keep tech glitches from hijacking your time and your mental well-being?

Predicting Tech Glitches

Tech problems are most likely to happen when:

you’re dealing with new (to you at least) technology
you’re starting a new project
a program or app needs to be updated

Anytime you try something using technology you haven’t used before, odds are you’ll run into trouble.

That’s because until we use a new app or program, we don’t know its ins and outs. A feature that looks easy to use at first glance might require a few preliminary set up steps. Or you’ll need to update other software to make it compatible with a new program. Maybe you’ll have to hunt for data to input that you didn’t expect.

Likewise, a new project often includes steps you didn’t know enough to plan for. Or requires using technology you’ve never used before (see above).

And then there’s updates.

A lot of programs update automatically or prompt you to update. Others don’t.

If a program or app needs an update, it may not work properly or do what you need it to do. If you don’t realize an update is needed until that last minute, that can add a lot of time and frustration to your task.

When It All Happens At Once

My most recent tech glitch incorporated all of the above.

I finally got my first ever podcast episode (for Buffy and the Art of Story) edited. But I exported it as a WAV file, and it took up too much space. I felt so pleased when I realized this morning the reason my file was too large. I thought it would take me about 3 minutes to reexport it as an MP3.

Except the software I’m using, Audacity, wouldn’t let me.

After Googling and reading help screens and threads I discovered there had been several new versions of Audacity in the last couple months. I needed to update first (not easy in itself), then I could export.

What I thought would take 3 minutes took slightly over an hour.

Planning For Tech Glitches

Happily, there are a few things that can help you deal with tech glitches.

Build them into your project timeline
Carefully choose when you’ll undertake any task that involves new technology or that you haven’t done before
Make a plan for dealing with unexpected glitches

Your Timeline

A project manager and author I heard speak said the general rule for IT is that everything will take 2.7 times longer than you expect.

He wasn’t talking about technology specifically. Just the human tendency to plan our time as if everything will go right when that just never happens.

I find the 2.7 times is a good rule for project I’ve done before, like writing another novel in the same series.

If I’m doing something brand-new, though (like creating a podcast for the first time) instead I multiply my timeline by 10.

I hope it will take me less time.

But I know there are lots of aspects of the project that I’m completely unaware of. All that extra time gives me time the room to figure all those new things out.

Choosing Your Time

The worst time to embark on a new project is when you’re facing a hard deadline on existing work or you’re otherwise in a hurry. That’s so because while you’re dealing with tech glitches , you’ll also be panicking about not getting your other work done.

For that reason, it’s key to schedule brand-new projects for times when your other responsibilities are lighter.

The alternative — and we need one because most of us have ongoing work with deadlines — is to set a very soft deadline on your new project.

As an example, I had hoped to launch my new Buffy and the Art of Story podcast by the end of September. But I was also working on the launch of my latest novel, which has a hard deadline of November 4, 2019. And I was teaching a new class starting in late August that I suspected might be very time-consuming. (Spoiler, I was right.)

So I didn’t announce the new podcast to anyone outside my mailing list subscribers. And with them, I let them know the release date was uncertain.

Even now, I put the first episode up on my website, but still need to upload it to iTunes, Stitcher, and other podcast services. I hope to do that by Halloween.

But I’m not promising anyone that I will.

In a perfect world for the last month I would have been sharing a specific launch date and publicizing for months beforehand. But knowing about all my other work, it was better for me to leave the release open ended.

When A Glitch Happens

When technology problems do happen, here are some steps to take:

Step One:

Take a deep breath and remind yourself that you expected glitches. It’s normal. You can handle this.

Step Two:

If you’re worried about other work, take a moment to figure out if you are better off (a) setting aside your current project and working on something else for the day; (b) setting aside your other work for a few hours and dealing only with the glitch; or (c) alternating between trying different things to address the glitch and doing other work.

Step Three:

When you do deal with the glitch, there’s bound to be down time when the software updates, your laptop reboots, or you’re waiting for an answer from someone you contacted for help.

Use the time well.

Rather than drumming your fingers on your desktop as you stare at the screen (and maybe curse), turn to some task you’ve been putting off.

Clean out that file drawer you haven’t looked at in a decade. Proofread 10 pages of your latest novel. Fill out those reports you’ve been dragging your feet on for your other job.

When you’re done, you’ll feel you’ve accomplished something. And odds are your computer will be ready for you to take another step.

Technology can be wonderful and it can also be frustrating. I hope the above helps it feel wonderful more often, and saves you some time.

That’s all for now. Until next Friday —

L. M. Lilly

P.S. Struggling with stress or anxiety as you juggle writing and the rest of life? Happiness, Anxiety, and Writing: Using Your Creativity To Live A Calmer, Happier Life might be able to help.

Saying No So You Can Write More

If you’re writing novels and doing other work as well, paid or unpaid, Saying No to other things is key to carving out time to write and to feeling happy.

For most of us, though, it’s hard to do.

So instead, if you’re like me, you become more stressed and overwhelmed. You might feel angry — at yourself for saying yes, at the people who keep asking you to do things, at your entire life or schedule.

So how do you say No?

Understand Your No

There are different reasons for wanting or needing to say No to another task or project. Here are several:

It’s something we really want to do for ourselves but we feel overloaded already
Someone we care about asked us to do it and we want to help that person but we feel we have no time
It’s something we don’t want to do but we feel we should
It’s something we don’t want to do for any reason

It matters which of the above is true because there’s no rule requiring us to say Yes or No without any conditions.

For some tasks that fall into 1-3 we might want or be able to say Yes if the circumstances were right.

So how do we do that?

Saying Yes If…

If you’re already stretched to your limit (or beyond) but want to take on something new, ask yourself these questions:

Could you fit in the task without too much stress a week or month from now?
Is there a way to narrow or limit the task so that it fits your schedule?
Can you think of an alternate way to achieve the same goal that will take less time or effort?

For example, I adjunct teach legal writing. My students sometimes ask me if I can help with advice on preparing for interviews or go over an article they’ve written. The demands of reviewing class work alone often make it hard to get my own writing and publishing done. But I really want to help.

So often I answer with a condition: Yes, I’d love to review your article if getting comments back to you in 3 weeks is soon enough.

Or: Yes, I’m happy to give you advice if you can stay after class one evening (rather than needing me to meet at a separate time).

If I truly can’t make time to review an entire article, I might offer to do a narrower task such as meeting to discuss proposed topics or reviewing and marking a limited number of pages with suggested edits.

At times I’ve also offered instead to connect a student with another lawyer who is more familiar with a particular area of law. (After I’ve checked to be sure that lawyer is willing to help.)

Saying No Clearly

Sometimes you just need or want to say No. But it can be tricky, even if it’s something you absolutely don’t want to do. That’s especially so if the person asking is someone you care about.

The key is to be clear so you don’t get talked out of your No.

Being clear means saying the word No without conditions. Or explanations.

Why no conditions or explanations? As soon as you add either, you’re inviting the person to come back with proposed ways you could instead say Yes. Or with arguments about why your explanation isn’t valid.

Here’s how that usually goes:

You: Sorry, I can’t come to dinner Sunday afternoon. That’s my only time to write.

Family Member: That’s okay – it’ll only take a couple hours. You can write after. Or in the morning.

You: No, I can’t. I’ve got budgets to prepare for work in the morning and plans in the evening.

Family Member: Can’t you change your plans? And why are you working on the weekend anyway? You work too much.

You get the idea.

Instead, try saying: No, it’s not possible for me to be there Sunday. I hope to make it next time.

When your family member (or friend or whoever it is) pushes back and asks why or what you’re doing, rather than get drawn in, simply rephrase your answer but say the same thing.

It’s just not possible this weekend. I’m sorry to miss it and look forward to another time.

If the person keeps pressing, it’s time to say that you need to go (hang up/leave/stop texting) but would love to talk again another time.

The Order Of No

The order in which you give your answer can help protect your relationship.

Notice above I suggested saying No (or it’s not possible) first and then ending with a statement that lets the person know you care. That’s because the word “but,” even when it’s implied as it is in the above examples, is very powerful.

In fact, most of us only hear what comes after the “but.”

Think about the classic “You’re a great person, but…” No one thinks there’s anything good coming after that. So, likewise, if you start with “I’d love to be there, but…” the listener will walk away thinking about the No.

If you flip the order, you’re reassuring the person. Your words make it clearer that saying No is about your schedule, and you value and care about helping that person or being there. (For tips on fitting writing into your schedule check out Writing A Novel 15 Minutes At A Time.)

That’s all for now. Until next time —

L.M. Lilly

P.S. The above is based on one of the chapters in Write On: How To Overcome Writer’s Block So You Can Write Your Novel. If you’re struggling to get started or you keep rewriting early chapters without moving on, you might find it helpful.

Save Time And Let Your Novel Ideas Simmer

We’ve all stared at a blank screen or page unsure what to write next. For me, it’s hardest if I’m starting a new novel and I’m out of ideas. Or I’m having trouble choosing which of my novel ideas to write about.

The concept of setting your ideas on the back burner to let them simmer can help.

Doing so does 3 things:

Frees your creative mind by lowering stress
Keeps you from getting stuck
Uses your time well (especially if you’re also working at another job or career)

Less Stressed And More Creative

The concept of putting ideas on the metaphorical back burner isn’t original to me.

I got it from Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff and It’s All Small Stuff: Simple Ways To Keep The Little Things From Taking Over Your Life. In that book, the author suggests that rather than racking your brain about a problem that makes you feel anxious, you should imagine setting it on the back burner of your mind to simmer.

That’s because often the more you struggle for a solution, the more you reinforce anxiety rather than shifting your mindset to making things better.

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If you relax and let go of the problem, though, your unconscious mind is free to come up with creative answers.

In the same way, allowing ourselves to set aside concerns about finding the right idea frees our unconscious minds to sort through possibilities, make connections, and come up with entirely new thoughts.

Ones we never would have imagined if we sat staring at the blank screen.

On Time, On Schedule, And Unstuck

I’m a great believer in sticking to a writing schedule. That means if I carved out time to write, I do it whether I feel inspired or not.

If I’m not sure where to go next with my novel, though, or how to get it started, wracking my brain at the scheduled time doesn’t usually help. So instead I imagine putting whatever part of my novel I’m struggling with on the back burner and turn to something else.

The something else could be a different writing project.

Maybe a short story a poem, or a chapter in nonfiction book. Ideally it’s something I can easily pick up and put down.

If I really need to make progress on the novel to meet a deadline, though, I focus on a different part of it.

For example, let’s say I’m stuck on the big picture idea for the next novel in my Q.C. Davis series. (The first one involved whether Quille’s boyfriend committed suicide or was murdered. The second featured neighbors stuck in an apartment complex during a blizzard with a killer. The third relates to a self-help organization that has cult-like aspects.)

Right now I’m uncertain of the basic premise of the fourth book, but I can still make progress.

I might write about a new character I want to bring into the series. Or think about aspects of Chicago to highlight that haven’t been in previous books. (One that will likely appear in Book 4 is the number of buildings that have multiple entrances and exits, allowing someone who knows them well to evade a pursuer.)

Writing about any of those points keeps me moving forward while leaving my unconscious mind to figure out who will be murdered and what the backdrop for story will be.

In this way, I’m more apt to stick to my writing schedule, reinforce my writing habit, and avoid getting stuck.

Using Your “Other” Work Time

The back burner concept also ensures that when you are working at another job or profession (or handling some other responsibility) you’re still writing.

That’s because even if your mind is completely absorbed in a non-writing task, your unconscious mind can imagine scenes, sort through plots, or generate completely new novel ideas.

You can help this process along by taking as little as five minutes before you start your day to choose a part of your novel to let simmer. Within a few days or a week new ideas or decisions will almost certainly pop into your mind.

When that happens it not only helps you make progress, it gets you more excited about your novel.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday —

L. M. Lilly

P.S. For more on lowering stress and improving creativity, you may want to check out my book Happiness, Anxiety, and Writing: Using Your Creativity To Live A Calmer, Happier Life. Available in workbook and ebook editions.

Using Your Phone To Focus On Writing

Your phone can help you focus on writing or it can distract you.

The best way I’ve found to use it to focus is to consciously choose these 3 things:

Where the phone will live while I write
Who can reach me while I write
How long I will write in one stretch

Where To Put Your Phone When You Write

Because you’ll be using the phone’s timer (more on that below), you’ll need it to be somewhere close enough to hear. But don’t keep the phone in the same room.

That’s for two reasons.

First, studies show that having a phone within reach, even if it’s turned off, lowers our mental capacity for other things. Some part of our brain is always listening for the phone.

This article about the McCombs School of Business study at the University of Texas at Austin puts it well:

The researchers found that participants with their phones in another room significantly outperformed those with their phones on the desk, and they also slightly outperformed those participants who had kept their phones in a pocket or bag.

My own experience bears this out.

When I leave the phone on the bookcase in the hallway outside my home office I feel much more focused and often forget about time passing. If the phone is within arm’s length, though, my mind wanders often.

Second (you forgot there was a second didn’t you?), putting the phone far enough away that I must get out of my chair to reach it ensures that I will move and stretch enough during my day.

Write Undisturbed

Most phones have a setting called Do Not Disturb (or sometimes No Interruptions).

This setting suppresses all alerts, including social media, and any notifications of texts, emails, and phone calls. When this setting is activated your phone will not ring, make any other noise, or vibrate.

You can customize the setting to allow calls from certain numbers or repeat calls from the same number to come through.

That way if, for instance, you’re the person your aging grandmother depends on for a ride to the doctor, you won’t miss her call.

Time To Focus On Writing

Now that you found a home for your phone and put it on Do Not Disturb, set its timer.

Choose a length of time to write that’s short enough that you won’t worry you’re missing out or falling behind by not checking messages or social media or doing other tasks. But the block of time should be long enough that you can get something significant done on your current writing project.

For me, 30 minutes is ideal.

After 30 minutes, I walk over to the phone to shut it off. I then reset the timer for 3 to 5 minutes and stretch during that time. Doing so helps me alleviate aches and pains from sitting too long in one position. I also look at messages to be sure none require an immediate response.

If I still have time in my day to write, I reset the timer for 30 minutes.

You can repeat this process as many times as you want to. But even if you only write for one 15-30 minute block you will make progress.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday —

L.M. Lilly

P.S. Not sure what to write during that 30 minutes? If you’re having trouble getting your novel started or you’re stuck in the middle, Super Simple Story Structure: a Quick Guide to Plotting and Writing Your Novel might be able to help. It’s available for multiple e-book platforms, as an audiobook, and in a workbook edition.

Creating A Series Bible

Today I’m working on something I should have done, or at least started, a year and a half ago: a series bible.

A series bible is what it sounds like. One place where you keep everything you’ll need to remember from one book to the next in your series.

But what should it include and what’s the best way to create it?

What Should Be In Your Series Bible?

What to include varies with the genre of your series, but most topics fall into three general categories:

Characters
Settings
Styles

Characters

The character section or sections of the Bible usually includes multiple sub-categories. Below are few ideas. You may add more or drop some that for you feel unnecessary:

Appearance
Health
Family
Other Key Relationships
Habitual ways the character speaks (style or subject matter or both)
Work
Education
Key character traits
Backstory
Religion
Greatest Fears, Desires, Regrets
Current and past residences

Here’s part of mine for Quille C. Davis, the protagonist in my Q.C. Davis series:

One tip I picked up from Author Lorna Faith in her article on the topic is to split out lists of characters. For example, you could have one for main characters and one for secondary characters.

I’ve started splitting mine by recurring characters, characters that appear in each specific book only, and characters that the short stories features. (I write short stories that fit between the novels to explore side character and side plots. Those stories are available to newsletter subscribers as a bonus.)

Setting Subcategories

Settings also may include sub-categories and may need to be quite extensive depending on what type of book you’re writing. Here are a few:

Settings for specific scenes (such as a coffee shop, your character’s home, a cave)
Locations (such as a particular city, country, planet)
Timeframe (especially key with historical fiction)
World-building (special powers and other special rules of the world, history, culture)

At first I thought I’d just remember settings because my Q.C. Davis series is set for the most part in present-day Chicago where I live.

But now that I am on my third novel and am about to write the third short story, I’ve discovered details aren’t so easy to recall.

Does Quille’s favorite cafe have a fireplace? Is her friend Joe’s condo in Chicago’s West Loop or River North neighborhood? Did I talk about how Chicago streets are laid out on a grid before?

Style And Consistency

Tracking your styles to ensure you are consistent can help both your writing and your marketing.

Style includes how you name, format, and spell certain key things. Within your stories, you’ll want to be consistent in things like whether you italicize names of books or movies characters mention. Also, how you spell a character’s name. (I kept forgetting if a character names Carole Ports uses the “e” at the end or not.)

Style matters for marketing, too.

As I’m setting up the preorder for The Fractured Man, Book 3 in my series, I realized Book 1 on Kobo had the series name as “Q.C. Davis” and Book 2 as “Q.C. Davis Mystery”. On another platform one of the books was missing a sub-title.

Nothing like making it harder for your readers to find the books!

Creating And Formatting Your Bible

I’m using tables in Word to save my information, but there are lots of options.

You might prefer other programs like Srivener, which has many options for creating bulletin boards and categories, or spreadsheets on a program like Excel. You could also hand write pages and put them in a binder, use index cards, or create a chart on posterboard on your wall.

The key is what will make it easiest for you to find the information you want quickly.

I suspect I’ll eventually print the separate Word tables and put them into a tabbed binder. The Word doc will be good for searching for particular terms. The paper binder will be good for paging through for ideas or reminders.

One last tip: Color coding by book or story is a great way to remember when you introduced a particular character, setting, or fact.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday, when I’ll talk about when (and when not) to use adverbs—

L.M. Lilly

P.S. If you’re struggling with fleshing our your characters, you might find my book Creating Characters From The Inside Out helpful. It comes in workbook and ebook editions.

How Free Time Increases Productivity

As my many productivity articles suggest, I lean towards scheduling my work tasks in advance. It helps me focus and cut down on the time I spend each day trying to decide what to do next.

But free time matters too.

In fact, planning unscheduled time in each day (another tip I picked up from the book Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results, Reduce Your Hours) can help you get more done and feel less stressed.

How does scheduling free time help you get more done? In three ways:

It makes room for unexpected tasks
You can pursue ideas that excite you in the moment
It opens time to consider the big picture

Free Time For The Unexpected

One reason to reserve free time in your work day or writing schedule is that things always come up that you didn’t expect.

It might be something you wish you didn’t need to do but that’s vital.

Maybe your boss throws a new project at you. Or a longtime customer calls with a complaint. Perhaps you discover an article is due a week earlier than you thought or you miscalculated how much time you’d need to finish a manuscript before sending it to an editor.

We tend to treat these types of things as aberrations. But unexpected issues and tasks pop up at least once a week if not once a day.

If you don’t have open time in which to do them, you’ll need to spend even more time rearranging your other work. And/or you’ll find yourself working late or on weekends too often. (Something that I did a lot in my law practice. (I really wish I’d found Extreme Productivity back then. It explains so many of the issues I had.)

Planning time to deal with the unexpected makes work and writing much less stressful.

What Excites You Right Now

On a happier note, scheduling dedicated free time (I know, that’s an oxymoron but you know what I mean) also allows you to follow up on that thing that catches your attention and excites you.

Generally I’m a fan of putting my head down and doing the work, whatever that work is.

It’s how I’ve finished multiple novels. I don’t wait until I feel like writing, and I don’t stop writing if I feel a little frustrated or tired.

But spending your entire work life that way is wearing. And it’s unrealistic to expect ourselves to never go off on a tangent. That’s part of what keeps life interesting and fun.

For example, a new story idea hits you that you’re superexcited about right now. If you’ve got just 15 minutes set aside in your day as free time, you can jot down your thoughts or write a few paragraphs.

Odds are that after you do you’ll feel refreshed and more able to focus on your other work.

The Big Picture

Open time each day also ensures that you have time to think beyond just getting your day-to-day work done.

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When I was running my law practice I typically scheduled every hour, cramming in as much as I possibly could. In the long run, I spent so much time grinding through each day that I never stepped back to ask myself if this was the type of practice (and life) I’d hope to create when I went out on my own.

As a result, while I liked running my own firm, after several years I discovered I had many of the same problems. Too much work and stress. Too little time to relax or write. Not enough of the types of legal work I enjoyed most.

I’ve heard from many authors who get into a similar position.

In their push to turn out multiple books so that they can earn a living, they lose track of the love of writing that drew them to the profession in the first place.

There’s nothing wrong with working hard to get to where you want to be. But reserving some free time allows you to consider where you are, how you feel about your work and your life, and what you might do differently for greater happiness.

That’s all for today. Until next Friday, when I’ll talk about setting up a healthier home office —

L. M. Lilly

How And Why To Batch Your Writing Tasks

If you batch tasks–rather than schedule them–you can get more done, save time, and lower your stress level.

I recently figured that out when I started batching the steps that go into writing and publishing articles for this website, and I’m so glad I did.

Working Too Hard On Weekly Tasks

If you’re like me you probably schedule weekly time to accomplish projects or tasks that recur once a week. That approach causes duplication of effort and eats into your free time.

For example, I publish an article here every Friday. Until recently that meant that around the middle of every single week I did the following tasks:

decided on an article topic
researched the topic
opened Word and outlined the article
signed into Canva.com and opened my title graphic template
created and downloaded a title graphic

Then every Friday, I did the following:

opened Word and revised the article
signed into this website and created a new post
pasted the article from Word into the website
opened the website photo library and uploaded the title graphic
inserted the title graphic into the article
formatted the article
revised, previewed, and published the article

Each week this work took me 4-5 hours, meaning I spent 16 to 20 hours a month.

Batch Your Tasks To Save Steps (And Time)

Batching rather than scheduling means grouping your tasks by type.

Last month I started batching the work. Rather than focus on a week at a time, the last week of the month I accomplished similar tasks relating to writing all 4 of the following month’s articles.

On the last Monday of the month I now do these things:

brainstorm and choose 4 topics for the next month (.5 hours)
research articles (.5 hours)
Open Word and outline the articles (1 hour)

Last Tuesday of the month:

sign into canva.com and use title graphics template to create 4 title graphics and download all of them (.5)
sign into the website, upload all 4 title graphics at once, create 4 posts (included below)
open Word and copy article outlines into each post, inserting appropriate title graphic in each (.5)

Then on each Friday of the following month I do the following:

sign into this website and write that week’s article based on the outline (1)
format, revise, preview, and publish the article (1)

While I could write all the articles in advance, I find I get burned out trying to do that and don’t enjoy the process as much, so I prefer to write one per week. That also gives me flexibility to choose among the 4 topics based on what might be timely or might be taking my interest at moment.

That’s 11 hours per month (3 hours advance work and 2 hours per week per article). Which means batching saved me between 5 and 9 hours per month.

There are other advantages to batching, too.

More Energy

Jumping from one type of task to another means changing your way of thinking.

For most of us, that means getting tired more quickly.

With my old way of doing things, publishing an article a week meant I was often switching between creative work like generating ideas and writing first drafts, performing administrative functions like opening programs and uploading and downloading files, using the visual part of my mind to create and revise graphics and format text, and employing my analytic skills for choosing topics, researching, and revising.

By immersing myself in one type of task at a time I not only avoid repeating administrative tasks (like uploading graphics), I feel much less fatigued. That leaves me more energy to write, accomplish other goals, and enjoy life more.

Less Stress

I also feel less stressed.

Switching from one type of task to another makes me feel like I am figuratively running all over the place. Doing the same thing for a longer time but only once feels less intense.

Also, now there are a lot fewer moments when I’m tapping my fingers on the desk waiting for a website to open, file to download, or the Save function to work. (Isn’t that something how quickly we expect everything to happen these days?)

That’s all for this Friday. Until next week, when I’ll talk about the value of reserving unscheduled time in your day —

L.M. Lilly

P.S. For more on getting more done with less stress, check out Extreme Productivity (Part 4 – Less Stress).