How I Write Novels

How to Prioritize Your Creative Work

1 Trick I’ve Used To Write 5 Novels

My job as a novelist requires a lot of administrative work. But it also requires me… to write novels.

So when I have a limited amount of time, or I have to choose between one or the other, I choose… writing a novel!

But there are so many aspects to my job that aren’t writing a novel — emails, calls, taxes (boo).

So on those days when I can’t ignore my administrative work , I prioritize my creative work; that is, I do my creative work first thing when I sit down at my desk.

Even if that means setting a timer for only 20 minutes and checking in with whatever creative piece I’m working on, I make sure to do that before I get to all the other necessary administrative work at hand.

This practice offers a reminder, when I’m doing my administrative work, of why I’m doing it: because it helps me be the writer that I want to be.

Put another way: if I keep in mind that my identity as a writer is the reason for all that other, less interesting work (especially while I’m doing that other, less interesting work), it makes that work much more palatable, and gets me back to writing with a centered mindset.

How do you keep your creative work in your sights, even when — especially when — you have to work that isn’t creative?