How to find time to write
Writing around family, work and life-curveballs
Does anyone else start the year feeling productive only to have life get in the way? We feel you. Whether it’s Covid-curveballs, or daily work/family/social commitments, sometimes our best-laid writing plans don’t work out. This newsletter features advice on staying motivated when time is scarce.
WEBINAR: Free webinar on writing goals – open to everyone
TONIGHT. Join the published and unpublished writers at team Jericho as we discuss our writing goals for the year and how to ensure we reach them. All are welcome to this one!
This week at Jericho Writers:
EDITORIAL: Developmental Editing – NEW!
You asked and we’ve delivered. Apply for a Developmental Edit now and receive a full-manuscript report, in-text comments throughout your text and a sixty-minute follow-up call with your editor. Similar to what you’d get from a Big-Five publisher. Nice!
BLOG: How to actually finish your damn novel
One of the hardest things about finishing a novel – before you think about ideas, characters, or plotting – is finding time and confidence with all those words to write.
SNAPSHOT: Unblock your writing (Exclusive for members)
Our ten-minute snapshot films are created to fit into small chunks of time. This one from Harry Bingham is about how to defeat writer’s block and put pen to paper once again.
How to write around lockdown
I’m writing this as the UK has plunged into yet another lockdown and my activities have been legally limited to work, TV, books and walking once a day.
In some ways, lockdown should give us MORE time to write. Social obligations are no longer a worry and writing is – I suppose – something we do for fun. So why is it somehow so much harder to put pen to paper?
Those of you with kids will be pointing at them mouthing ‘homeschooling’, and this is something that’s going to swallow both time and energy for thousands of writers. There’s also the whole ‘working from home’ thing for those of you who can, and although sitting in my pyjamas all day does have its perks, it does make it harder somehow to open my laptop again after a long day and work some more.
I’m really looking forward to Holly Seddon’s webinar on 14 January on this – not only as she has four kids, a work-from-home job AND a career as a bestselling author – but also so I can check in with members who are all battling the same things. We really are all in this together and that really does help to know.
For me, my tricks to write during lockdown are bitesize chunks. I’m not going to attempt to write every day, because I know my brain can’t do that around work right now. I will be writing at weekends though. And in the morning as soon as I get up, and then perhaps after a local walk. I’ll reward myself with treats (because dry January isn’t a thing this year!), bad TV and good books. And – at the end of all this – hopefully we’ll have something positive to show for it. And if not – hey – sometimes there are bigger things going on.
So tell me – what are you doing to motivate yourself through lockdown? What are your tips for finding time to write – whatever your personal circumstances right now? Share them in the Townhouse here. We’re all in this together.
Sarah x
Plus, don’t miss:
Agent one-to-one sessions (10% member discount)
Book a one-to-one call with the literary agent or book doctor of your choice and get that all-important feedback on your work. Last few remaining.
Manuscript Assessment (Discounts available for members)
Our most popular editorial service matches you to your dream editor and gives you tailored feedback on your work. It doesn’t get better than that.
Agent Submission Pack review service (Discounts available for members)
Get professional feedback on your opening 10,000 words, your cover letter, and your synopsis from one of our expert editors.
I find your tone motivational! Smile!