I hope I'm posting this in the right place. I need your best tips and advice, please. About six weeks ago, I started a new job, which is turning out to be massively busy, taking up nearly all my time during the week, and weekends are mainly ring-fenced as family time.

I was 26,000 words into a new novel before the job landed. I had a decent one page synopsis done, which gives me the spine of the story, although I haven't plotted it chapter by chapter as such.

I get up at 6am in order to have an hour's writing time before work. I can't really write in the evenings because of family commitments. During any given day I maybe have an hour or two when I can be usefully thinking about the story, its characters etc. I'm hoping to get it under my skin to the extent where I can be working on it even when I'm not writing. I'm armed with notebooks for the purpose of jotting down ideas etc. But I was wondering if anyone had tips for how best to use what little time I have. And any tips for getting the story under my skin? (Of course it was under there six weeks ago but work rather took over in the meantime...)

I'm planning to just bash on with it, scene by scene, chronologically during that hour first thing in the day. I can maybe manage as much as 1,000 words a day once I get back into my stride, but I'm struggling with technique as to how to achieve that "stride" on such a tight schedule.

I don't want to put this novel aside for when I have more time, because I don't know when that will be. But nor do I want to end up making a hash of this for want of sufficient time to devote to it.

All suggestions welcome (preferably of the positive 'You can do it!' variety rather than 'Forget it, you're mad'..)

Thanks!

Tiger

If you do a little bit of anything for an hour a day, you will find you have done a lot after a while...

A friend of mine has gotten as far as 65000 words doing two hours a day in the time I've managed about 15000 words... including a week which I devoted entirely to writing.

And the hour a day is just the hour you devote. I find that my brain does a lot of background processing while I work on other things, so you may actually find this will improve your writing and output.

Gaius

Thanks, Gaius, that's really encouraging.

RosyT's the expert on this, but I would say, think NaNoWri-Mode, in the sense of letting yourself put any old words down, rather than humming and hawing for the right one. That way you get motoring quicker.

And don't wory if you don't get into the zone, but just put the words ploddily down. It won't read like that after a lick and a polish in revision.

Emma

Thanks, Emma. Yes I thought it was probably a case of plodding on, getting black on white as they say, with a view to polishing later.

Interesting question, and in a recent thread it was suggested that half an hour a day is possible, but it very much depends on what type of writer you are.
If you can leave a sentence half written the day before and come back to it the next day and continue writing, then Yes, an hour a day is fine.
But if you are the sort of writer who needs time to wind down or wind up to writing, then it depends on how much time it takes before you start writing something you're happy with (as opposed to just writing for writing's sake).
Personally I'm happy to write 500 words a day, but sometimes it can take most of the day to accomplish that.


- NaomiM

Thanks, Naomi. Yes I can see that type determines everything. I'm pig-headed, that's for sure, and I do tend to write fast as far as first drafts go. It's how to keep the story alive in my head when I'm not writing that feels like the biggest challenge.

It's how to keep the story alive in my head when I'm not writing that feels like the biggest challenge.

I jot down a sentence or two as prompts for chapters as they come to mind, and put together a synopsis relatively early on - it changes as I actually write the chapters, but it's a useful reference point.

Prompts for chapters to be written! That's perfect, thanks, Naomi. Then I won't be wasting precious time wondering how to get started at any particular point.

Yes, I think you can.
I wrote my first book when I was still working as a lawyer and had very young twins.
I didn't have a scheduled hour, I just grabbed precious moments whenever I could.
I think it took me 18 months, to finish it, so it is doable.
HB x

Brilliant, Helen, what an achievement! Great inspirational story, just what I needed. x

The thing is to just start doing that hour per day. You'll find your own way of using it to best advantage quite soon, I'm sure. Naomi's and Emma's suggestions sound right. The odd sentences or notes jotted down in advance will help you not to be stuck at the beginning of the hour, and being determined not to agonise over quality or detail but just to get words down come what may can be helpful. Editing and polishing can be done later at odd moments, while commuting for example, on a printout. They are activities much more suitable for doing in shorter bursts in unlikely locations.

Chris

I'm not exactly a professional novelist but I think I can help, as I've been writing a novel with precisely one hour a day of writing time (actually, two half-hour sessions on the tube, between work and busy family life).

My tips are:

-Set a specific time apart to dedicate to your writing (as you seem to have done already). Stick to it even when ill, suicidal, begged by wife etc. Be ruthlessly protective of that hour.

-I personally write my novel in a little notebook. Typing it all up takes hours but, on the plus side, I take my pad everywhere and sneakily take notes all the time, even in meetings and in class (I'm a teacher).

-In order to get back into my novel, I re-read the last couple of pages every morning before I start writing.

-I try to avoid stopping at the end of a chapter. In fact, stopping in the middle of a sentence is good because it gives me something obvious to write the next day.

-I have a couple of pages at the back of my notebook dedicated to 'problems to solve', 'unanswered questions', 'future chapters' and so on. I regularly read them during the day. If I have ten minutes to spare, I try to solve a problem/answer a question or plan my next chapter. It seems to help me stay in the zone.

-I am very careful not to stop when long weekends or holidays come. I don't tend to write much, but I start editing, planning, typing etc. to stay in the story/with the characters.

I started in September 2008 and will probably finish around Christmas, with about 90,000 words. Of course, I will still have all the editing/re-writing to do, but I think the whole thing will have taken me about 18-20 months, with one hour a day. So, yes, you can do it.

What I like best is that I have no time whatsoever for blocks and such things. I just sit down and write. It's just a habit to get into.


I hope this helps.

Good luck with it!

Nancy

Thanks, Chris, I agree. It makes the process seem a bit production-line-ish but it's the reality, I'm sure for plenty of writers.

Nancy, that was a superb response and I thank you for it. Perfect, perfect schedule / tips / goal to aim for. I'm going to print off your response and keep it with me for inspiration. Thanks again.

Sarah