Monday, October 10, 2016

A Productivity Schedule

Okay, so I've been on a pretty crazy productivity schedule for several months now. The reason is because I'm releasing a new inspirational western romance every 11 weeks. And there was one point in April, where I'd just put up a pre-order and I'd only written ONE CHAPTER of the book.

One chapter.

And the book was coming out in 11 weeks. And I'd only written that chapter so I could put it in the back of the book coming out.

I started panicking a little. I mean, I write fast, but I need time to edit, let the book sit, format, etc.

And I never wanted to be that far behind again. My goal for the summer was to write enough so I could be working 6-7 months ahead of a book's publication date.

I wrote 240,000 words from the last day of school in June to the first day of school in August. And since school started, I've written 2 more books, one at 50K and one at 53K. And I just started another that I'm 20K into.

I have to do this if I want to continue publishing according to my schedule -- and in fact, I've decided to roll out my new series (starting in January) every 6 weeks. SIX WEEKS. But I'm happy to say that the book I'm writing right now doesn't come out until April. So I've achieved that 6 month cushion I wanted for myself.

I'm using Google calendar to keep track of what I should be working on. I give myself 3 weeks to write a 50K book. If I can get 3K/day for the 18 days, I can get really close. I take Sundays off, and I don't work Mondays so I can usually get closer to 5K to make up for any days I don't meet my word count goal.

I draft 2 books back-to-back. Then I take a break for formatting, marketing stuff, relaxation, releases, outlining the next 2 books, etc. That's usually 2 weeks. Then I'm back to drafting.

I feel like I'm doing pretty well at sticking to my schedule, but I also re-evaluate everything every month to prioritize things I may have overlooked, or move a book I'm not feeling like writing. But I have a productivity schedule, and I use it!

Do you do anything like that? How's it going for you?

3 comments:

Kimberley Griffiths Little said...

I've got a schedule set up for myself over the next year that looks very much like yours, if not even tighter, and I'm not working 6 months ahead yet (good for you)! I'm mapping it all out on my calendar, but it's going to be CRAZY!! Good luck, Elana!

Heather Moore said...

You're amazing Elana. I'm sort of on a "break" right now, which means that I'm writing 1500-2000 words a day, instead of 3,000. On good days I write 4,000-5,000 (when I'm drafting). I literally have 4 completed novels ready for publication in 2017 (I wrote 3 this year, one the year before), but I'm trying to decide if I want them all to come out in 2017. I also have a finished 100 page novella and 50 page novella that are already scheduled. And I think my greatest challenge is knowing that "today I have to do xyz" and "tomorrow I have to do xyz" not "this week" or "this month." There's no room for procrastination ;-)

lena said...

Wow, that is an impressive accomplishment! It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to write that many words in such a short amount of time. It sounds like your productivity schedule has really paid off, and I'm sure your readers are excited to see all the new books you have coming out. In terms of Apkinu.com, it's great to hear that it has been a helpful resource for you to find and download the latest apps and games. With APKINU's extensive library of popular titles and commitment to user safety and security, it sounds like a valuable platform for anyone looking for high-quality mobile content. It's always nice to have reliable resources at our fingertips to help us achieve our goals, whether it's in writing or any other aspect of our lives.

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