How I accidentally became a “full-time” writer…and the 5 things it taught me

I didn’t mean to become a full time writer. After I finished grad school, I got a job almost immediately. I didn’t enjoy it, but I was working full time and I had benefits…and that’s a lot more than a lot of Americans can say. Than a lot of people can say. I was lucky. My Dad was relieved.

Then one day, I quit (okay, actually it was a well-thought-out decision and I gave three weeks notice. But it still felt very sudden). I had already been freelancing on the side, so I decided to make that my full time job. But the thing is…you cannot edit for 15 hours a day. You just can’t. Or at least, I can’t.

So I broke up my day into writing and editing. Eight hours here, eight hours there. At first, I felt like I couldn’t breathe…there was so much to do! But then I got into a rhythm. I’d have breakfast with Patrick, then write from 8:30 to 1. I’d take a lunch break…usually 30mins to an hour. Then I’d edit for the rest of the day..and into the night. I’ve been doing this for about…let’s see…4 months now (a lot longer than I originally planned, and yet it’s flown by). And in doing so, I’ve learned a few things:

1. PRACTICE makes perfect. Or at least…practice makes things take less time! At first it took me hours and hours, sometimes a full day, to write a chapter. Now I can write and edit a solid chapter (so it’s focused and clean, not perfect) in about 2 hours. Still not super fast, but a whole lot faster than before.

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2. SKIM. WRITE. EDIT. If I read over my work from the night before, it puts me in the perfect mindset to tackle my writing for the day. But if I spend too much time editing previous pages, I have a hard time transitioning into writing. Skim. Write. Edit. That’s my process.
3. AM/PM. If I write in the morning, I am still fresh enough to edit for clients in the afternoon. If I do the reverse, my brain is potato mush by 2pm.
4. My PRODUCTIVITY goes down the longer I work on something. So if I want to get something done (write a chapter, edit a page, read a manuscript), I can’t linger over the task. In other words, stretching out a given project over days and days makes the same project ultimately take longer than if I just work on it in a sitting or two.
5. My CREATIVITY goes down if I push myself to ‘create’ for too many hours in a row. Writing “full time” is great, but it’s important to do other things. My brain works better when it’s given some time away from work. Imagine that!

In sum: writing full time is awesome, but ultimately you can accomplish your goals without doing it. A few hours here, a few hours there. Focus on a given task, accomplish it. Move on to the next one, but make sure to take a break.

At least, that’s what works for me 🙂

YOUR TURN! What sort of schedule works best for YOU?