Discipline: Time Management Through Non-Negotiables

I'd say a major challenge we face as writers...at least those of us with families, jobs, and other responsibilities...is lack of time. We're trying to squeeze it in anywhere we get a break from our busy (not crazy!), full day. And then sometimes, when we get that break, that actual hour or so of freedom, we're too exhausted to whip up a few pages of brilliance let alone five intelligible sentences.


But others seem to do it. Others seem to have the ability to actually make time - create more of it from just the 24 hours guaranteed us on a daily basis! They're living busy, productive lives where brilliance seems to flow effortlessly from one project to the next. They're inspired, connected to a higher creative source, at peace when all around them their peers are hustling to barely make a deadline. What's the secret?

Ok, so as a writer you know brilliance doesn't just happen - it takes work, and yes, time. Lots of it. The others, from whom all brilliance and zen seem to flow, just manage their time better. They don't have any more of it than you do. The difference is, they put a premium value on their time as they see it directly impacting their overall productivity and quality of life. And they expect others to respect their time as well, or they simply remove themselves from the equation. It's a non-negotiable. People, not just writers, who respect their worth and their talent develop a system of dos and dont's - their own set of non-negotiables that keep them from steering too far off path. The beauty is, anyone can do this. You can start doing this today. Here's how.

Be Conscious!

The first step of developing your own time management non-negotiables, is being truly aware of how you spend your minutes. Aside from your major responsibilities and obligations, where do you spend your free time? What's the first thing you do after you've come home from a busy day, connected with your family/pets/parents, prepared dinner, wrap up some general housekeeping, etc. Plop exhausted in front of one screen or another to unwind? Or chat with friends? Hang out at a bar? Shop? Change all your status updates? Some of these activities don't seem like huge time vacuums, but over time, the minutes add up to real hours. Time that could be spent writing or reading (which I also consider writing). Good writers know the importance of every word they put on the page. It has a purpose. If they have too many words or not the right kind of words, they edit. Your time has meaning and purpose, too. Edit your time as you would your writing.


Plan!


This may sound totally anti-creative to some of you, but to really get the most out of your week, plan it out before the week begins; Sunday is ideal. First, think about what you want to accomplish. What do you need to do to achieve a goal, complete your work, make an important connection, finish piece - the actions that will move your writing/writing career forward. Next, list everything you must do day to day. School, work, kids' activities, etc., fall into this category. Your second level of must dos are things like cooking and maintenance/housekeeping. These things take up a lot of time, so if you can manage hiring someone to clean house a few times a month, do it. Or delegate household responsibilities, if there's more than one of you able to share the workload (my husband is truly awesome in sharing the heft with me, but cooking is my gig). Create a daily plan at the beginning of the week clearly outlining who is responsible for completing what task and make sure they're sticking to it. This frees up hours of your time during the week.


Ok, so getting past the major responsibilities and must-dos, that leaves you with your free time to plan. Plan your family time, spouse/partner time, pet time, parent time, friend time, you get the picture. And make the most of that time you're spending with your loved ones! Next, plan your writing time. Why did I put this behind connecting with people? Because community is important. It feeds you and you learn from it. It's also important for you to participate in a community, even if your community consists of just you, your neighbor and your pet. Whatever community you're a part of, engage fully...then come back to your work focused and ready to rock!


Last, plan your writing time. By writing time I mean, writing, reading and researching. The best writers...the prize-winning ones, the ones that land on the best-seller list, read. They read the work of their peers, and they read books in genres that may have nothing to do with what they're writing. By reading, you're learning more about writing by appreciating or not appreciating how others do it. This is ESPECIALLY important if you're writing within a genre because you must know what else is out there, know the formula.


Plan your TV and screen (this doesn't include writing on your computer) time wisely. I rarely watch TV and limit my online time to blogging, updating my Lit Coach Facebook page and updating my other online sources when my blogs are up. Or, I'm researching the trades and other publishing news and a few blogs I regularly check. I don't check email every five minutes. That's about it. "Just a few minutes" often turns into a whole hour (or more) in front of a screen, plan this empty calorie time wisely.


NOW. While it's important to be flexible in your planning as life does love to throw a curve ball once in a while (for example, my son has pneumonia this week), this to-do list becomes your non-negotiable weekly schedule. The best thing you can do for yourself, for your creative mind, is stick to it, or as closely as possible. When others come into your picture and demand your time in some form or another, it's your decision to give them that time or not. Whatever you decide, you own that decision.


Your Action: Plan out your week as discussed above and try your new non-negotiable system for one week. See where it takes you. Don't forget to share this plan with those you live with so everyone is aware of their responsibilities.


Bonus Points: Aim to be on time: to work; to school; to lunches; to meetings; to scheduled phone calls. Not only does this keep you on track, it boosts your credibility.

Discipline: Your Choice

Last week we dipped our toe into considering the role of Discipline in a writer's life. John Parsley shared with you from his experience as an editor with Little, Brown (one of the most selective publishing companies in New York) the stark reality of just how soon your writing's gotta grab an agent or editor's attention - on page one. Keeping their attention from start to finish takes excellent craftsmanship and an artistic touch of the pen, so to speak, that sets you apart from the pack.

If you've learned anything from the several best-selling or award-winning authors I've brought on to blogshop, their main message has been - becoming a good writer takes time, unrelenting dedication and persistence. None of which happens without some form of discipline. Whether you want to call it discipline or something else is up to you. But IT must be present in your writer's life if you want to enjoy any level of success. Think of the D word as your own daily practices that keep you on a good path...you know, that one where you're creatively productive, mostly organized, punctual and content, no HAPPY with the direction you're headed! That sounds awesome, doesn't it? Yeah, I'll take more of that stuff!


Sounds ideal right? It is and it can be your reality, but it takes time and focus. Getting good at anything does.

But.

Let's take a look at a more common scenario. After reading a few good 'how-to' articles about pitching an agent or writing a bullet proof synopsis you plunk down in front of your computer ready to set the literary world a'blaze with your bon mots and can-do attitude until...something happens. You get a phone call/email/text that brings some kind of negativity your way; you start doubting that this book thing is really going to take off, leaving you forever in a job you hate; the baby wakes up - great, there goes your writing time. Whoa! What happened to all that good mojo you started out with?


My dears, if you want success as a writer, as a human on this green earth, you must learn to productively deal with what life brings to your table. No excuses. Your actions determine your success - not your education, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic situation. How you were raised does not determine your success. What side of the tracks you grew up on does not determine your success. Your lack of emotional/financial/parental/spousal support does not determine your success.

You do. I believe in responsible free will. You have choice in this life and you make choices every day that either keep you from succeeding or move you toward success. Let's take that negative call/email/text you received. How did you deal with it? Did you let it derail you? Will we find you plopped in front of the T.V. with a bag of chips watching some mindless reality show? Or did you deal with it as productively as possible and move on to your more important task at hand? How about your own doubts about this writing gig and your current less-than-fabulous job situation? I know many of you would rather be writing than having to clock in full time to a job that isn't "you." What can I say about this? Until your writing pays the bills, you'll have to either continue to clock in to your job or find one that better suits you and your talents while you build your writing platform. And don't let self-doubt keep you from moving forward. If you're constantly striving to be a better writer, then you're succeeding in real time! Writing around your kids' nap times? Honey, this is the story of most my adult life! I understand totally how difficult it is to work around your children's schedules, whatever they are, but realize this - you don't get a do-over with your kids. Choose to be present and engaged in their lives. That may mean for now, you write at night or early in the morning before they wake up. Let that be your sacred writing time and let nothing get in the way of it.

What does choice have to do with Discipline? Everything! If you want success as a writer, you must choose writing over T.V.; choose reading over hanging out at the bar; workshopping over self-loathing; and connecting with other got-it-goin'-on writers over fretting about the economy. And yes you'll have to plan your life around this. Once you totally realize your actions determine your success, that you have a choice in most everything you do, you'll understand the value of your precious writer's time...and your life! Accountability is the foundation of Discipline.

Your Action: This is long winded, bear with me. We've all heard inspiring stories where the underdog overcomes great obstacles to become successful in their own way. I love these stories! It's what keeps me keeping on. Hearing these triumph over every obstacle stories reminds me there are no excuses in this life if you want something badly enough. I draw inspiration from my grandfather who grew up in a coal mining family in the North of England (Tow Law, Co. Durham, if you're interested) during the first half of the 20th century. Rather than let his socio-economic history determine his fate, he let his passion guide him toward a master's degree in philosophy and Doctor of Divinity. He enjoyed a long, fulfilling career as an Episcopalian minister and later Bishop in the United States. His story keeps me stretching myself, my ability every day.

How about you? What keeps you inspired? What no excuses story real or imagined keeps you moving forward?

The Art and Craft of Discipline: Page One with LOST's John Parsley

If you've followed this blog for more than a month, you know I dedicate each month to a virtue successful writers employ in their writer's life. In past months, we've covered Passion, Confidence, Clarity, Education and Goals - with guest authors, agents and other publishing industry experts sharing their perspectives as they relate to the virtue along the way.

This month is all about the D word. Discipline. I can almost see some of you cringing, but alas, here we are. There's a reason I didn't bang out my first blogs with this virtue because it takes time to appreciate and develop. The most successful writers learn discipline is their best friend if they want to succeed in getting their book published; their poetry or short stories placed in literary journals and magazines. A disciplined writer knows in order to be recognized, they must strive for mastery of craft no matter how long or hard the revision process, among other aspects of the writing business.

That's our focus for this post - it's all about the writing. And it needs to "get good" on page one!

I invited John Parsley to share his perspective on what gets the green light not only as an editorial director for the amazing online e-zine LOST, but as an editor with Little, Brown - a highly selective traditional publishing company in New York.

Here's what John had to say:

It is July first and fifty-one degrees above zero.

The explosion must have been second only to the A-bomb.

My first meal as a luxury editor was Tuscan boar, shot in the vineyards that once served as the front lines of the wars between Sienna and Florence.

It's two below this morning, but there's no wind.

If you want to read more, it's not because of anything I've written. These are the first lines from two books I’ve acquired and from two essays in the fall 2010 issue of LOST Magazine—all of which I started reading in proposal and never put down once.

I acquire nonfiction books, but I’m the second person your first sentence needs to hook. After it’s sold a literary agent, who’s sold me on a proposal, I need to sell our sales, publicity, and marketing teams; they need to sell bookstores and the media; and we all need to sell readers. The best publishing scenarios have readers selling, too—to their friends and family, when they love a book. There are no less than five major sales pitches that helped bring any book to your local bookstore.

Each of those readers is buried in other submissions, pitches, and possibilities. Their attentions are under siege, so book proposals and manuscripts don’t have time to “get really good" in chapter two, or on page 40, or once you can really tell what's going on. No—they already have to be good by then, from the first words on the first page.

We're all looking for first lines that give energy, rather than taking it. That show a writer in control of language, and of the proposal's direction. That place us in the book and “do” something, making us want to read another sentence in the hope it meets the promise of the first.

I've acquired books by emerging writers and accomplished authors. I've acquired serious journalism, narrative, memoir, biography, history, humor, and fiction. The only thing these very different book proposals shared was a great opening.

And that, perhaps, is the point: whether it’s a book proposal or a finished book, there's no stronger selling tool for me than a first sentence that lets me pitch it in the most honest, easiest way: by saying, "it's good from the very start." In that sense, it’s the sentences that did the hard work, and the proposals that sold themselves.

TLC: My most popular blog post is A Writer's Education: Luring An Agent and The Not-So-Secret Handshake with fab lit agent, Kristin Nelson. This blog post is all about capturing the attention of an agent...how to get your foot in the door with a well crafted pitch (assuming the product is totally polished and ready to go). As a former agent, 98% of the writing that came my way was not fully developed despite the promises they made in their pitch. The WHOLE package must be great: pitch and product. My dears, please spend less time worrying about agents. Take the time you need to make your writing "get good" from page one so an agent can't possibly refuse you!

Have a fruitful week, writers!

Any NaNoWriMos reading? Stay focused and good luck!

TLC

About the Contributor:

John Parsley is an editor at Little, Brown and the editorial director of LOST Magazine.