6 Steps Professional Writers Use to Complete Their Books
Are you serious about getting your book done? It might be time to do as the professionals do and create a schedule.
Many professional writers have a contract to finish their books, and therefore a real deadline with an outside source, and a schedule in place to meet that deadline. This is where beginning writers, or self-published authors, need some assistance. If you don’t yet have a contract, or if you are doing it yourself, how can you be sure you will actually get it done?
If you are ready to commit to completing your book, here’s what you can do. Create your own pressure, your own deadline. Of course, let this be an inspirational kind of pressure, not the kind that causes you to shut down in resistance.
There are six steps to this process:
- pick a date—maybe a year out, maybe two, or only 6 months
- calculate how many weeks there are between today and that date
- look at where you are now, and estimate how many pages/chapters you need to do to finish
- divide the number of pages/chapters by the number of weeks. That’s your weekly goal.
- Put in enough time weekly to hit the mark you’ve just set for yourself
- Keep track, and revise as needed.
That’s all there is to it. The reality of taking this timeline into actual writing/creation may not always feel so simple. Remember this: the key piece is to show up in the times you set aside, and do the work. If you commit to taking yourself seriously, you can absolutely do it.