There are gobs of blogs out there loaded with advice about how to squeeze in writing time. Most of it is word-based, albeit somewhat helpful, advice. Get up earlier and join the #5AMWritingClub! Keep a notebook in your car! Write on weekends or weeknights! Set word minimums! Set maximums! Set times! Set days… Geez, willikers! Enough already.
What writers need to sort out their writing time and how to manage writing and business hours (which publishing now requires), is just math. Plain ol’ simple math.
Why Math Matters to Authors
I can hear you groaning. You didn’t become an author to do math! It matters because today’s authors have two time-hungry tasks. Writing and Business. And doing a little number-crunching now to determine how and if you can swing those hours can save you gobs of time and heartache later.
First, the writing time. In order to finish writing a book or to write the next one, you need good, solid, butt-in-chair time. You need writing hours, not mere minutes, for words to get on pages.
Secondly, for each book completed, you need business hours. Those hours are devoted to marketing—newsletters, websites, talks, and more. You know, the things that actually tell readers about books, so you can sell books, so you can write more.
Consequently, you need to see how much time you really have to devote to writing and business. And that begins with finding out just how open or jammed-packed your life really is.
Examining Your Current Life Hours
There are 168 hours in a week. Eight hours each day are recommended for sleeping (if you’re not, that’s a whole other article). That leaves you 112 waking hours for all things required of your current life. Family? Job? Eating? Gardening? Groceries?
It doesn’t matter if you’re pursuing writing as a second career or as a career change, it is time for an honest examination of your life NOW to sort out how writing and marketing tasks will fit into that 112. Here’s a simple chart. Fill it in, and add it up to see what’s available.
If your TOTAL HOURS for writing & business was zero (or less than)
Oh boy. Your life seems like it’s already squeezed so tight! And so perhaps this isn’t the best time for you to take on a huge project (which a book absolutely is). Better to know this now than tax yourself (or your family) even more. However, just because you’re at, or over, 112 life hours now, it doesn’t mean giving up the dream of writing. It means you have two choices:
- Adjust your life to make room for writing (even if it’s for the joy of it and not publishing)
- Put off writing the book/novel/story until you have more time
If your TOTAL HOURS allow for some writing & business hours
Perhaps this little bit of math enabled your available hours. If it’s three, not thirty, it will absolutely take you longer to write and publish a book, so you may want to also adjust your life to gain more. Or perhaps you’re retired, and thirty hours are wide open to you. Whether it’s a little or a lot of hours, your next equation is to divide (oh no, more math) writing hours and business hours.
How to Divide time between Writing and Business
This chart of writing versus business hours will help you determine how to divide those hours based on where you are in the publishing process—from no book to book launch to in-between launches (maintenance).
What do you instantly notice? That’s right, at no time are you only writing. Why? Readers need to hear about your book! And they need to hear about it from you—not just your publisher (if you have one—and they’ll only do so much). As your publishing date comes around, the marketing simply needs more of your attention.
An Example of the Author’s Math
If your head is swimming from all the above, let’s go through an example. Let’s say your life commitments are 108 hours:
112–108 = 4 hours/week for writing and business tasks
What this means for your week is:
- No book yet or between publications = 3 hours writing, 1 hour business
- Pre & Post-launch = 1-hour writing, 3 hours marketing
- Launch Month = 0 writing, 4 hours marketing
It’s up to you when you spend those hours, but consistency usually helps authors stay on track. Pick a day and time, and always separate the writing from the business hours. Creativity needs space away from to-do lists (which is all marketing really is, but that’s also another article).
A final word on using author math
No matter how it adds up, being honest now—about your life and the realities of publishing today—can equal less stress. The math can help you get a handle on your time commitments, and help you recognize how (or if) writing can fit with your reality. Okay, that’s enough math today. A+ to you for hanging in through this whole article… it’s time (for those who have it) to go be the BOSS of your author business.
About the Author
Karen A. Chase is an author, speaker, and brand designer. Her latest book is Brand the Author (Not the Book): A Workbook for Writing & Launching your Own Author Brand Plan, and her first historical novel about the signing of the Declaration is Carrying Independence, chosen as number 12 of the top 100 indie novels by Shelf Magazine in 2019. Follow Karen on her Facebook Author page or via her Chasing Histories newsletter at KarenAChase.com.