The Tongues of Men

When I started this novel back in 2007, I tried to write one clear day each week.

Or at least that was the plan.

What actually happened was that other work spilled onto my writing day; that because the other job was not rigid, frequently taking up weekends or forming unusual patterns in the week, I moved my writing day here and there and often it disappeared completely; and that the emotional demands of the other days meant that even when the writing slot was in the diary unhindered with other commitments – I usually felt spent, inarticulate and as creative as a headache.

I lacked discipline. Conditions may not have been favourable but the writing days should have been anchored in the diary well in advance and protected fiercely.

But that wasn’t the biggest mistake. The largest clanger was thinking that I could write some of my novel in a day, forget it for six days, and then spend another day on it, repeatedly.

I couldn’t. Some authors can. Some authors can write in the evening after work and family commitments have taken the most part of the day. Some can compose some hasty lines in the minutes they have for lunch, or squeeze a few words out in other passing moments of interstitial time.

If I believed that that was what it takes to be a successful writer I would have given up already.

You’ve got to find what works for you. And then do it.

Before I can write a word I have to jump the old hurdles. Even without those, it take me time to get my head into gear, to remind myself what the book is about, who the characters are, how they feel, and most importantly of all, to reacquaint myself with the narrative voice of the novel so that it starts to flow out of me again. On a good day, even without the hurdles, I might be at that point by four o’clock. Dinner for a young family is at five-thirty.

Then our third son was born, and, because it wasn’t working so well anyway, the disruption to our lives shelved the book for nearly a year.

The right timing

Last year I left my job. It was time for a career change. It was time to be serious about becoming a writer. So when I got into a conversation with a friend about working as an editor for his web site consultancy, I knew exactly how I wanted to arrange the time. Thankfully he was accommodating, and my pattern of four weeks with the company followed by a week off to write the book began in September last year.

Coupled with finding a good place to write, this whole-week-every-five-weeks rhythm has been a remarkable improvement for my creativity and productivity. Not only does little now impinge on the writing time – because it’s blocked out solidly between two weekends off – I’ve now got much longer to find the narrative voice, get into the flow, remind myself of what is happening in the story and, once I have started writing new chapters, to write for a sustained period before other work comes round again.

Procrastination can easily eat a day, or two. Whereas before that would be my entire time gone (cue the guilt and misery!), I can now nonchalantly waste Monday, even Tuesday, and still hit my word target by the end of the week.

In fact the order of play invariably goes:

• Monday – procrastinate for England (I’m getting good at this now, using the time to sleep and read to inspire myself for the remaining time)
• Tuesday – battle demons, finally start writing, but the wrong things (like the next novel, or some poetry, or a new master shopping list)
• Wednesday – battle demons and win, ease into the book, remember that I can do it
• Thursday – shit hot writing and lots of it
• Friday – more shit hot writing, knock off early because I’m so chuffed I want to celebrate

It doesn’t always work out that way. I have lost entire weeks to Monday's and Tuesday’s occupations. But I usually get there in the end. In any case, it is far better than the day-a-week plan.

There might be better still. I often feel that I would get more done if I was writing the following week too, although it’s more likely that I would just procrastinate for longer to begin with. It’s still hard to get my head back into gear, and then, having become utterly and inwardly absorbed with the book to have to come back out of it again and reenter the world of content strategy and web sites.

But it’s a big improvement. Along with finding an ideal place and getting enough sleep and inspiration, finding the best time to write has been a crucial lesson in learning how to write a novel.

What about you? Can you bang a few words out in your coffee break, or do you need a longer stretch to get back into your writing? Any advice for making the most of your writing time?