Since fall of 2009, I’ve been especially focused on keeping my writing a priority and juggling it with freelance copywriting. I’ve tried several options, including:
Carving out one weekday per week to write. This seemed like a great idea, especially being a freelancer. The reality? It was too easy to give up that day for client projects. Or, I’d see that I couldn’t carve out an entire day and throw in the towel for that week. I approached it as all-or-nothing and, well, nothing won.
Taking an in-person workshop. While the workshop had me focused on my writing, but the weekly 500-word exercises weren’t quite what I needed at the time. I was used to online classes that drove students to the completion and polish of chapters, so I was looking to repeat that experience.
Writing 1,000 words per day. The best part about this was that a friend agreed to let me email him my daily word counts. Knowing that someone would read that number was a good motivator. However, I set my 1,000-word goal and then immediately had a surge of new copywriting work. While I hit the goal some days, I failed most. It was too many words per day when I was spending almost eight hours on copywriting.
I may try a words-per-day goal again, starting with a lower number. For the next few months, my goal is to complete one (draft) chapter per month. How I’ll get it done, I’m not sure. But I know I must to meet my goal.
Like all my 50/50 posts, this is where you share your experience. What’s worked for you in terms of balancing a day job (or other responsibilities) and writing? What have you tried that you’ll never do again? What are key elements that help you set—and meet—your writing goals? Please share in the comments. Thank you!
Filed under: a.k.a writer blog archives, Freelancing, Writing Tagged: creative writing, discipline, making time to write
