“Write for at least one hour every day.” I heard this a lot at my first few writers’ conferences. Of course, writers will write every day. And, why only one hour? Shouldn’t you write all the time? The fact is, writing your content is not all you have to do. Besides knowing the writing craft, you must spend time studying the markets, scoping out the “competition,” researching subject matter, meeting other writers and editors, and keeping your efforts organized.

If you devote full-time to your writing career, you may spend as much as an hour each day doing these additional writer jobs. If you consider yourself part-time, organize your time, either daily or weekly, to perform each of the following functions.

  • Reading and research. Read examples of the genre you want to write. Do some research on your subject matter or current trends in your chosen genre.
  • Marketing. Subscribe to publishing industry blogs to keep current on marketing trends. Spend some time each day exploring markets for your work in the market guide or online.
  • Networking. Get to know other writers on Twitter, Facebook, online writers’ groups, and blogs. Be part of a critique group, either local or online. Keep in contact with people you have met at conferences. Look for opportunities to collaborate with other writers on projects.
  • Prayer. For the Christian writer, praying for God’s guidance daily is a must. How can you know whether your plans and activities headed in the right direction unless you check with your Guide? Whether you feel that things are going well or not-so-good, don’t leave out this critical daily activity.
  • Organizing. It never ends. Decide on a place for everything, and keep everything in its place. If you don’t stay organized, you’ll waste precious writing time looking for lost things.

 

Try giving a set amount of time to each activity on the list. Give each equal time. Then do your hour of writing for that day. You can do the writing hour first, but I think you’ll be better prepared to write when you’ve done the other things first.

And—be careful not to waste time. It’s easy to let the time slip away when you’re doing something you enjoy. Secretly, you may be hoping that you’ll run out of time and not have to do the things you don’t enjoy. For example, e-mail and social networking can be time-wasters if you don’t limit the time you spend on them.

Again, I recommend Mark Porter’s The Time of Your Life: How to Accomplish All That God Wants You to Do. It’s out print, so it’s only available through used book services like Half.com, Abe Books, Amazon, and Better World Books.

 

Next post in the Get Organized series will be “Evaluating Your Efforts.” Subscribe at the top of the sidebar anywhere on my site to get all updates: www.emilyakin.com.