The Productive Writer-Quick Nonfiction One Morning at a Time

Organizing my writing day

I mentioned in a previous post that I write best when I get up first thing in the morning and write any new material that I am going to write that day. I have made this a habit and thereby I have developed the habit of writing every day. Some days I write just fifteen minutes per day, but on other days I might spend the whole morning writing until I can’t write any more that day. Sometimes I write all morning on the same project (like during NaNoWriMo) but most of the time I divide my writing time between different projects. This year, I have decided to limit my writing time to morning and using my afternoons as time that I do  book marketing.

Signaling my Muse to Get to Work

As you know, by writing every morning, I have developed the habit of writing every day.  More importantly, my muse knows when it is time to do her thing. Creativity doesn’t always come, but getting words on paper whether good or poor quality is always better than no words at all.

Setting consistent time and place to write

In addition to writing at a specific time during the day, I usually write at my desk in my office of my church. I get dressed for work and sit and professionally write. There are several reasons for this. It helps activate my muse.

I don’t always write at my desk, however. Sometimes just for a change of pace, I will write in a different location. Sometimes I even write in the afternoon or evening, especially on a weekend when I have nothing else going on.

All of this talk about consistent time and location may seem redundant, but I can’t stress it enough. Believe me when I say that these two aspects writing is important. Even fifteen minutes per day writing new material will make a big dent in your writing production goals by the end of the year.

Determining What to Work on Each Day

Because I want to start writing first thing every morning, I determine at the end of my writing session what I will complete the next day. Rather than waiting until the end of the whole day, I determine what I will be doing at the end of each session. This way not only do I know what I am going to write the next day, but I can also easily know how I want to continue writing when I am already on a given train of thought.

 

My Latest Nonfiction

Sometimes it helps to make changes in the middle of projects. I had planned to finish the second draft of the new book I started for NaNoWriMo in November and finish the edits on my next novel in the Locket Saga: Book IV: Sailing Under the Black Flag. This was what I did at the end of November when at my writer’s group meeting, I agreed to host one day of the Ozark Sustainable Living University at my church. At this meeting, as an author, I would be able to sell some of my books. The only book that I had written that I thought would be likely to sell was Simply Vegetable Gardening.I decided that in order to have more variety, I would write two short books that I had done some research for that I ended up calling Help from Kelp and Using Diatomaceous Earth in the Home and Yard. 

I worked on these books all through December (along with editing Sailing under the Black Flag). I went over to my second beta reader’s house and between the two of us we completely edited both booklets in one afternoon. After we finished, I formatted the books for print and thanks to the wonder of print on demand, I have fifteen copies of each for OSLU. The event is this weekend. I also have the books available in paperback online.

Something new for Fridays

Since I have moved my dates of when I am doing my blog posts, it gives me a long stretch of four days when I don’t have anything posted. I don’t however want to write another blog so I decided that I would put a video blog up of a video that someone else has done about the writing process or book marketing. This way, you will be hearing writing ideas from a different perspective. These perspectives may or may not reflect the views of this blogs author.

 

 

Donna Brown is pastor at Faith in God Church  1 1/2 miles south of Brandsville, Missouri on Hwy 63. Sunday services are at 10 am and Wednesday night Bible Study at 6:30 pm.   As Author Cygnet Brown, she  has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues, and most recently, A Coward’s Solace, Book III of the Locket Saga

Her most recent publications are two booklets Help From Kelp and Using Diatomaceous Earth Around the House and Yard. Available in paperback.

.For more information about Cygnet Brown and her books, check out her website at http://www.cygnetbrow.com .