Finding a schedule that works for you

Do you like to set yourself a word target to write everyday? Does this work for you?

Everyone is different and we all have to find the way that works best with us. As a part time teacher and parent of two daughters, I don’t have a huge amount of time to write.

Going into lockdown:

During the first lockdown in England I was mostly working from home, teaching online but in my free time I felt really lost. Suddenly all those activities I would normally do were cancelled so I wrote a lot. The first lockdown helped me to finish my novel.

In lockdown 2 I rewrote half of my novel and in lockdown 3 I finished the novel I had previously written. Now things are getting back to normal I find I am struggling for time to write.

I’m not complaining. There is no way I want to go back to lockdown again but it means I have to fit in writing when I can.

Finding what works for you:

I have discovered that I write best in the mornings. I wake up fairly early and can’t sleep and even if I’m going out I still have time to write something. This only works on the days that I’m not working though. When I’m teaching I have no energy for anything else. It helps to set little goals e.g I will finish this chapter/section/novel by June. When I started rewriting my novel in lockdown 2 I set myself the goal of finishing the rewrite by January. Having a date to work towards meant I didn’t slack off too much. I had to get it done.

As a teacher I look forward to holidays as I know I will get more time to write and focus on it properly.