Organization

Organization is one of the keys to keeping a freelance writing career rolling. If you are a good or even decent writer and systematically search for work, it will start coming. Even the low-paying crap work brings in enough money to be worth your time. You must research and finish things on time, and send the assignment in the correct format to the correct person. And, meanwhile, a writer should be always looking for more and better work. Most of us are running lives in the meantime.

Unfortunately, the brain action that makes us creative thinkers makes us less organized. Most writers must work at developing the skills we need to keep our non-writing lives in order. Here, in a too-small-to-be-adequate nutshell, is how I manage certain aspects of my life.

Household: Every Saturday, I make a detailed to-do list of everything that needs done around the house that week.I try to do as much as possible on the weekend, then squeeze in the rest or delegate where I have the chance.

Writing: I add it to my household list. I also start a word document with the article's name and leave it on my computer desktop, where I will see it whenever I start up the project. I usually set a personal deadline that is about halfway through the actual project timeline. This way, even if I am a day or two late, I am actually several days early. I add writing goals such as "Query three online publications" to my list and try to keep up with them.

Children: They come first, so I plan for aproximately half my time to be spent in various interruptions. Therefore, I plan, for example, to get five hours worth of work done (max) in a ten hour workday.

Meals: I plan them when I get the grocery flyers and every morning take out what I need for dinner that night. For breakfast and lunch, I have a repertoire of healthy and easy to prepare meals. Often my children know how to make these as well and can chip in if I am under a time crunch.

School: I am returning to school after five years off, but so far my plan is to attend classes and complete all assignments and papers as they are assigned. I have a large binder with dividers, and I will keep a folder for each class with one side dedicated to assignments and the other to finished work. (cross fingers)

It's much simpler and much more complicated than that, but I am actually writing an ebook on the subject. I'll let you all in on the deal when its finished.

Happy Writing!

Emily