If I have any chance of succeeding in my attempt to write a thousand words a day for a hundred days, it’s not enough to plan what I’m going to write. I also need to plan my day.
Here is my timetable:
| From | To | Task |
| 8:00 | 10:00 | Write |
| 10:00 | 12:00 | Do my editing work |
| 12:00 | 13:00 | Social media, blogs, emails |
| 13:00 | 13:30 | Lunch |
| 13:30 | 14:30 | Housework |
| 14:30 | 16:30 | Write |
| 16:30 | 19:00 | Cooking and family time |
| 19:00 | 20:00 | Supper and clearing up |
| 20:00 | 22:00 | Ironing, washing |
That looks good. I have four hours for writing. That must be enough time to write a thousand words. Right? Well, yes, if I have a thousand words ready to write. But what if I have to think a bit? About the voice, the character, the tense and all those other matters that need to be considered before starting.
Unless I decide to just plunge into it and then try writing the same story in different ways. That’s a good exercise I haven’t really tried. And it will up my word count. Hmm.
And what about all the things I haven’t included in the timetable: folk dancing, shopping, seeing people, reading (because it’s not enough to read in bed) and all the other things that might pop up. And weekends? Hmm.
EDIT: I forgot my writing group, which is a lot of work – polishing off the next submission, critiquing and attending the meeting every two weeks.
Oh well. That’s my plan and I probably won’t stick to it. But I’ll try.
Miriam Drori, Author 