The question asked most of me is: How do you organize your day to accomplish what you do?

I probably never answer it the same any two times. There isn’t an A-B-C or step-by-step response to that. However, I will try to list how I get things done and see if you can find some semblance of takeaway value in the middle of it all.

1. Deadlines come first. However, if they are big project deadlines, you must create little deadlines to break it up since it can’t be accomplished in one sitting. A novel, for instance. I have a deadline for it, but to create 95,000 words I write 1000 per day. The FundsforWriters newsletter goes out every Friday. A freelance publication I write for likes 3-4 articles every six months. Another would like 304 every quarter. A lot of times just having deadlines prioritizes things.
2. Paid gigs take priority over unpaid ones. Enough said. I write for free for one publication for personal reasons, but they don’t always get their articles as early as the paid gigs do.
3. Write daily. You can develop a calendar or habit or prioritize your writing assignments if you don’t know that you’ll be reporting to work.
4. Write ahead of yourself. Write 2000 words instead of the 1000. Send in two blog articles instead of one. Buy yourself down time if you expect to need it. If something unusual happens, then be prepared to pay for it with more writing to get back on track.
5. Tell people you have writing to do. People do not realize the hours it takes to write for a living, so when they ask for your time, and you don’t have it to give, then say no. Pretty soon you’ll be amazed at how much more they respect you as a writer if you appear to always be, you know, writing.
6. Make room for research, marketing, and pitching, but you cannot let it consume your day to the point it eats into the writing. That legwork is still not writing.
7. Ignore writers block. Show up and write.

Tomorrow if you ask me this question I might have other pearls of wisdom, but I know what I know. . . that I chose to be a writer, therefore, I chose to show up to work and do the job. To do less is choosing not to be that writer.