Tips for Authors Who Need More Time to Write
Is time on your side? I’ve spoken to dozens of people who have told me about their great ideas for books but never followed through with a manuscript. There are plenty of excuses for why these could-have-been authors never were. However, lack of time is without a doubt the most common pretext. But time doesn’t have to be your enemy. Don’t sell yourself short. If you are focused on your task, you can achieve amazing thing in the flash.
I worked my way through college laboring away my nights at a local newspaper office. I began as a sports clerk. My job was to answer phone calls from area high school coaches and get enough details from their games to write a few short paragraphs for the following morning’s sports section. That frequently meant writing up 20-30 game summaries during the height of any given football season. In just a few short hours, I would summarize the evenings of hundreds of athletes and thousands of fans.
When I began writing my first book, I used many of the principals I learned writing game summaries to help me utilize my time wisely. Here are a few tips that may help your writing move along swiftly:
Don’t sweat it. Don’t try to make a masterpiece with every sentence you write. Focus on your basics. Who, what, when, where why and how. The most important thing is that you are getting your message across clearly.
Let someone else explain. If you’re writing nonfiction, use quotes from reliable sources to help push your message. If you’re writing fiction, ask a friend or family member to act out some dialogue with you while your tape recorder is running. You can transcribe the quotes later.
Alter or expand. If you can’t come up with the right words on the first try, write down the wrong words. Go back later and make changes.
Live with deadlines. If getting motivated is a problem for you, deadlines are critical to your project. If you’re unable to set your own deadlines, your publisher will be more than happy to help. If you’re not working with a publisher, ask a friend or family member to hold you accountable according to your timetable.
Time may seem to be your biggest hurdle, but doesn’t have to be. Even if you only have 30 minutes here or there, you can move your writing forward if you just stay focused. Once you sit down and start writing, you’ll be amazed at how quickly the chapters start falling together.
- Danny Stooksbury
