Small Steps Add Up - Tips for Authors

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it took me about five years to write my first novel. Then it took almost another two years to get it published. I dabbled with my writing, and I had no deadlines. Here are something that helped me build my writing routine.

  • Block time every day for writing, editing, researching, or book marketing. Life is hectic, and everyone has a lot of demands, but it you can book time for your writing life, you’ll see results. Figure out what works best with your schedule and try to be consistent. I am an early bird. I get up before the sun and write while the world is quiet.

  • I track my word count each day. It’s interesting to see how 2,000 words quickly becomes 23,000 words. Plus, it’s a good way for me to see my progress.

  • If you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up. Get back on track as soon as you can.

  • Do not spend weeks revising and editing what you’ve written. Make notes if you need to go back and change something. For the initial pass, just create your first draft. Editing and revising comes later. I know a writer friend who has spent years on the first three chapters.

  • Somedays you’re just not motivated to write. Use that time to update your blog, create a newsletter, or update your social media sites.

  • I try not to use my writing time for research. When I’m writing and I find something I have questions about, I mark it and go back later to fill in the details. Often a check on the internet leads to hours of cute puppy and kitten videos.

  • Your website, blog, and social media sites need care and feeding. Content needs to be updated, and you need to interact with your followers. I often use my lunch hour or TV time at night to make sure I’m caught up on all the posts and communications.

  • Make sure that you don’t forget your adminy tasks. Gathering tax information, balancing your business account, booking events, making sure all of your bios and books are current on all your sites are good tasks that always need to be done.

I did an experiment during lockdown and the plague. I committed my daily commute time and my lunch hour to writing. I was amazed at my productivity.