Finding Time to Write

by Mindy Gibbins-Klein

Are you finding enough time to write?  Most people don’t.  Over many years of coaching aspiring authors, I have heard all kinds of excuses, but it all boils down to one idea: you need to make time for your writing.  Notice that I said make time, not find time.  You won’t find any time anywhere.  You need to consciously carve that time out of your busy schedule to ensure you deliver your book.

Successful authors treat their writing seriously, like the business project it is.  They make sacrifices and make it a priority so that it actually happens.  You may need to get up early or stay up later for the duration of your book project.  You may do well setting aside 3-hour chunks of time before, during or after the business day and even at weekends.  I don’t recommend spending more than 3-4 hours at a time on the writing because you will become less effective and all the other things you have to do will be mounting up the whole time.  But do put the exact times in your calendar.  Don’t leave it to chance and don’t add “write book” to an already full “to do” list.  That will just create pressure and stress which won’t help your flow.

You may find you need to skip business or social gatherings that are not absolutely critical.  You may need to explain to family and friends that your book is a top priority and other things have to go on the back-burner.

Books don’t write themselves.  In my experience, with the right level of planning and focus, you can write a full-length non-fiction book in about 100 hours.  The problem is most people do not set aside the 100 hours to make it happen.

Mindy Gibbins-Klein is best known as founder of The Book Midwife and founder/director of Ecademy Press business publishing.  She works with aspiring authors to guide them all the way through the planning and writing process, ideally starting before they even write one word.

She is an international speaker, trainer and consultant with 20 years of marketing, training and coaching experience, and over 300 clients who have written and published excellent books quickly using the Book Midwife methodology.  www.bookmidwife.com

You can listen to the audio from when Mindy was a guest of Blog Host, Gail Z. Martin’s Shared Dreams podcast here: https://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WW7XbC07

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