State of Confusion

I'm not really in the state of confusion. I'm in the state of Washington. But the two apparently border each other. A week in the mountains with no cel service, no internet, no emails -- and no chance to update my blog. Sorry! I'm back at it.

Dianne wrote to ask, "If I really wanted to move from being a part-timer toward being a full-time writer, what advice would you have? What are the steps I need to take in order to make the transition?"

I can think of a long list of things you should consider...

1. Find a place. Make this your writing space and designate it as your office. (If you're serious about this, make that your official home office and start looking into the tax deduction you can get from the IRS for establishing a home office.)

2. Establish a writing time. Having a block of time dedicated to your writing is probably the first step every professional writer takes on their way to a writing career. You want to have a protected chunk when you're not checking emails, answering phone calls, or meeting people for coffee to bitch about how little writing time you have. For many authors, it's simply "morning." When I began writing full time, I set aside 6 to 8 every morning to write (I had one job and three small kids, so I couldn't do it later in the day). I would get up and write every morning before going to the office... which was amazing, since I'm really not a morning person. But it was the discipline of sitting and writing for two hours every morning that really helped me flip the switch in my head and get me going on a writing career.

3. Create a filing system. All it takes is one office box and a set of files. You can arrange it alphabetically by topic, and create sub-files as you get deeper into your work. Doing this will keep you on track, and has the added advantage of giving you the feeling of being a grown-up -- as though this writing thing were an actual JOB you're doing.

4. Set up a bank account. Make this just for your writing business. Run all your expenses through it, so that you can see what sort of investment you're making in your writing career. Deposit every dime you make off your writing into this account, so you've got a clear record of what your income and expenses are come tax time.

5. Fill out that stupid address book. Type in all the names, titles, addresses, phone numbers, and emails of everybody you know in publishing. Yeah, it's a drudgery. But you only have to do it once. Then you'll never be in that situation where you REALLY have to ask somebody a writing question, but can't figure out how to get hold of him.

6. Give yourself a goal. Many writers have a goal of 1000 words a day. Others work on a bigger scale, like "one chapter per week." A writing goal gives you something to work toward.

7. Create a to-do list. Work on the top thing of your list every day, cross it off, and move to the next thing. On Fridays, start at the bottom of your list (so that you get to that one task you're always putting off).

8. Establish a calendar. This is critical if you're trying to move from part-time to full-time. A writing calendar just gives you a big-picture view of what you need to be writing. It might show something like "take the first two weeks of the month to complete your introduction and first chapter," then remind you to take a week to write that magazine article, followed by a week of revisions to an earlier project, then three weeks of working on your book chapters. In other words, you're using a calendar to break a big project into bite-sized chunks. It'll also reveal what night you're going out to dinner and remind you to take Kaitlin to the orthodontist.

9. Learn to group similar activities. Do all your snail mail at one time. Schedule your phone calls back-to-back so that they go faster. Things that are "occasional-but-regular" (for me, that means "looking at submissions") will move much faster if there's a time on the calendar to go through a bunch of them all at once.

10. Invest in yourself. Take a class, join a critique group, attend a conference, get therapy -- whatever it is you need to grow. Oh, and buy a good dictionary and thesaurus.

That's a start. Let me know if that's helpful. And if you have a publishing or writing question, send it to me. Now that I'm back to work, I'll catch up on the questions you've been sending.

Chip

Comments

[Pam Halter]

I'm just getting back from a writer's retreat weekend. My group made goals and made a commitment to be accountable with each other. Not only will we lift each other up in prayer, we will also touch base with our prayer partner and ask, how are you doing with your goal?

It's almost like having a deadline. It makes you get the work done. I can't wait to see what everyone accomplishes!

[Christa Allan]

Wow. Opus on organization. You're not just another pretty face in a kilt, are you? What about some ideas for those of us (okay, me) still slogging away at a J-O-B. "Grade essays...write my novel? Write my novel...eat Blue Bell Chocolate Brownie Overload?" Too many decisions, too little time.

[Eva Marie Everson]

Great advice, as always. I remember receiving similar from you early in my career. I'm not sure I could get through a day or a week without it. Well, not and call myself "professional."

[Eva Marie Everson]

Okay, why didn't my comments show up? (Maybe I'm not professional enough....) :)

[Ashley]

Welcome back. I was beginning to wonder where Chiparello ran off to.

[lisa]

One thing about the office deduction. . . The IRS is quite picky on that, and so is my accountant. If it's also used for personal activities/time you have to be careful about that. She did scare me badly once talking about cheerless yet mighty IRS men literally coming in with tape measures combing around and being very nitpicky. So we may want to check the particulars about a home office before we start racking up deductions such as a percentage of energy costs, phone, etc. if the space isn't fully devoted to business.

I've had a home office since 1995 doing my graphic design business, but since I've sometimes use the space for other things I haven't claimed a deduction. Accountant also said sometimes "home office deductions send up IRS "red flags" (but maybe that 's more for contractors etc) hum. Thanks for reminding me about that though, Chip. I might dedicate a writing space area for that purpose soon, once I figure all of it out-- writing does not pay as well as design, AT ALL -- I mean, yet.
:o)

[Rob Sargeant]

Great advice Chip. Large portions of my past two books I wrote while working overseas, and it was a challenge at times to find a quiet place to work, especially since these were on military bases. Computer labs work nicely. On one base I was able to find a corner in a dusty portable (used as a library) where I could set up my laptop. Usually Saturday mornings, or days off I'd head into my sanctuary with a cup of coffee, and keep writing until my battery died.

[Austin Williams]

Regarding the home office decuction, my wife and I went to a seminar for eBay sellers earlier this year where we were reassured that this is no longer the "red flag" it used to be. In the mid-90s, when the internet was just becoming a popular commercial venure, the surge of people claiming this deduction used to send off a tonne of red flags, and the home office deduction still retains this note of infamy among CPAs and others, but for the most part the IRS has eased off on this front. Anyone who's making money off the internet (and that's a lot of people at this point) has a legitimate reason to claim a home office deduction, and the IRS has adjusted its procedures to fit the times. Ashley is dead on in one point however in noting the need to carefully delineate what space is used for "office" purposes, and what space isn't.

[Linda M Au]

Great stuff here. I have most of this stuff carved out for my freelance proofreading and typesetting work already, but you had some items that confirmed my suspicions on a few things. (For instance, not being a morning person either, I found that I actually do get some good writing done as long as I make it FIRST in the day instead of LAST.)

Also, as a proofreader, I get to claim things like new dictionaries and the Chicago Manual of Style as tax deductions. I assume a writer can do the same. I keep a folder in my file cabinet specifically for freelance/writing-related receipts: books on writing, style, toner cartridges used for printing out manuscripts, etc. And I use a simple spreadsheet to track not only submissions (and rejections, *cough*) but also all freelance income. Makes tax time less of a nightmare. A little.

[Austin Williams]

Another tip some friends pointed out to me yesterday is that alongside having a filing system, you can also make a personalised wiki site. They've mentioned it helps them a lot in keeping track of characters, places, ideas, etc. and requires far less paper. :-)

http://lifehacker.com/software/wikipedia/geek-to-live-set-up-your-personal-wikipedia-163707.php

[Dee Stewart]

Great list. I featured it at Christian Fiction Blog this week. I also want to add to the Calendar tip.

If you are a mag writer or are a novelist preparing a marketing plan, make sure you add mag submission deadlines in those calendars as well as book review deadlines, if you want your book to be featured in RT in April, then I need to be reviewing your book now. :)

[Danica/Dream]

Ah, Chip, you know this is a personal favorite topic of mine. :)

These are great tips for any writer, even if you're just writing when you can squeeze it in. Developing these habits now will save a lot of headache in the future.

Thanks for these great reminders!

[Justin Driscoll]

Chip
Wanted to let you know I blogged about this over at my career advice blog, www.justindriscoll.net/blog

Thanks for a great article.

justin