Post #230 – Memoir Writing Tiny Tip – Matilda Butler
Tiny Tip #5 Just for You
This is the fifth in a newish and irregular series of short blog posts designed to get you to focus on just one small point. I call them Tiny Tips.
Scroll to the bottom if you are interested in how this series came to be.
Case in Point:
I recently finished book number six in The Clifton Chronicles by Jeffrey Archer. After the last sentence, I immediately tried to figure out if The Hour Cometh was the final one or if there were enough unresolved plot threads to support another volume.
The Internet to the rescue (of course). Indeed, the seventh and final book in the series will be released in November of 2016. Question answered, I probably should have returned to my writing. But, perhaps like you, I decided to read more. Successful authors are always intriguing to read about and to learn from. It turns out that Archer laid out a challenge for himself on his 70th birthday in April 2010. He would begin a series of books (he originally thought there would be five) called The Clifton Chronicles, with book one named Only Time Will Tell. Each year, the next in the series would be published. He lays out a schedule and sticks to it. He’s never missed a deadline.
And how does he do a book a year? It’s in the schedule. Archer writes each day from 6-8 am, from 10-12 noon, from 2-4 pm, and from 6-8 pm. And the next morning the schedule repeats. Around hour 1000, he has the novel finished through its multiple drafts–all handwritten. Following is how he explains his schedule:
I normally spend a year doing research, followed by a year of writing. I follow that schedule above, and it normally takes me about six weeks to produce a first draft. I then take a four-week break and get away from it. I come back and do another draft. That takes another four weeks, and I handwrite the whole thing out again. A Prisoner of Birth took 17 drafts – and took just over 1,000 hours.
“But I’m Not Jeffrey Archer”
True. I’m not either. But your Tiny Tip #5 asks you to decide on a writing schedule and stick to it. No time? Too busy? How about all the time you spend checking your phone? How about all the time you spend checking for new texts or emails? Ever do binge watching of favorite television show? These and many more time grabbers keep you from your goal of writing your memoir.
Only time to write two hours a week? That’s fine. Just decide on when those two hours will happen and sit with no distractions for those hours. No one gets to interrupt you. There are few life emergencies that can’t wait for 120 minutes.
In other words, schedule your writing and stick to it. That’s the way to make genuine progress.
And that’s what you need to do.
How This Tiny Tip Series Started
The idea for a series of short writing tips came to me while reading the program notes for a chamber music concert. I realized that many (well, ok, most) of my blog articles get to be long and often require you to do certain things — like write from prompts I’ve provided. And while I will continue with this type of longer article because I think they are of real value, I realized that sometimes as writers we just want a little bit of information or a small new idea or a thought stated differently. We don’t have a lot of time.
That’s the concept behind each Tiny Tip. Just a nugget to give you something to think about as you go through your busy day.
Enjoy.
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