Starting a manuscript is actually pretty easy. You just start writing. Finishing a manuscript, on the other hand, is hard. Really hard. Running a marathon and crossing the finish line on your hands and knees kind of hard.

Most writers never finish the race.

That’s why I respect any person who can finish a manuscript, regardless of quality. I’ve written over twenty books and none of them were easy.

So last weekend, the Illumify staff created a survey for the Writers on the Rock Writers Conference held last Saturday here in Denver. One of the questions we asked the writers in attendance was,

“Other than time, what is your biggest obstacle to writing?”

I removed “time” from the options because I knew it would rank high. Here’s a breakdown of their answers:

I don’t know what I’m doing     23%
Writers block                             9%
Physical limitations                   3%
Motivation                               23%
Other                                       42%

Interestingly enough, many of the respondents who selected “Other”, wrote that “time” was their biggest obstacle to writing. This happened time and time again.

My hunch is, you’re probably dealing with the same problem.

So here are some time-saving tips to help you cross the finish line with your manuscript:

Recognize Your Rhythm. I’m a morning person. In my younger days I realized that my best writing time was between 5:00 and 7:00 in the morning. When I worked full time as a freelance writer, I blocked out 5:00 to about 10:30 every morning. Afterward I worked out, showered, took a nap, worked on my freelancing business, and then wrote from 3:00 until about 5:00 (the time I started waking up).

I realize that most of you work day jobs so this isn’t always feasible, but if you’re a morning person, you might consider waking up a little earlier and diving into your manuscript. Or maybe you’re a late-night person like Karen Bouchard, our Acquisitions Editor. She sends me emails on her way to bed as I’m waking up. Recognizing your best writing time allows you to maximize the few hours you have.

Trust me: you can accomplish more in one hour of writing when your creative juices are flowing than a full day of writing when you’re feeling blah.

And when you feel your creative juices flowing, drop everything and start writing if you can.

If you’re at work when you get an idea for your manuscript, by all means jot it down. Which leads me to another tip…

Start a Bullet Journal. If you don’t know what this is, a Bullet Journal is a system that helps you track the past, organize the present, and plan for the future. For the sake of time, I won’t go into the details, but I’ve suddenly found a system that enables me to keep my plans, thoughts, and ideas in one place. If you’re at work and you get a sudden burst of inspiration, just pull out your Bullet Journal and capture those good ideas.

Outline. Mary Poppins is my favorite movie. In one scene, she tells Jane and Michael Banks, “Well begun is half done.” Brainstorming book ideas is beneficial, but when the time comes to knuckle down and tackle that project, you should begin by outlining your book.

This is also known by another term: Table of Contents—or TOC.

I once spent an entire week working on a book outline by writing the main ideas on sheets of paper and then reordering them until it made sense.

THIS. WILL. SAVE. YOU. TIME.

Turn off your distractions. When I need to focus, I leave my cellphone in the other room, turn off the ringer, and then exit my email program. I don’t know about you but email is the bane of my existence. Can’t live with it, can’t live without it.

MS Word has a “Focus” option that shifts your attention to the document at hand. In fact, I’m writing with “Focus” turned on right now.

Create A Spreadsheet. I’m not an Excel whiz, but I’ve learned how to maneuver the program so I can create a spreadsheet that helps me monitor my progress.

I use this with every book I write.

To begin, I determine my manuscript’s target word count, which usually lands between 40,000 and 55,000 words. Then I decide on the date my manuscript needs to be completed. With that information, I can establish my average word count per week that I need to hit. It can also help me discover my average word count per day that I need to write.

I usually add this information at the beginning of my spreadsheet.

After outlining the book, I add the front matter (i.e. Dedication, Foreword, Introduction, etc) and chapter numbers and/or titles to successive rows going down the left side of the document. Then I create the following columns:

Word Count Target
Date Target
Actual Word Count
Actual Date

A word about “Word Count Target”: Plotting out the word count for the Introduction or Epilogue or your chapters is important. Perhaps you know you have a long chapter. In that case, you’re going to need to compensate in other chapters. This will help prevent you from writing too much, WHICH SAVES TIME. Also, the front matter and back matter are usually shorter than the chapters, so this helps you plan accordingly.

By using the “Sum” button on the Word Count columns, I can keep a running total on the number of words.

If you’ve “hit the wall” with your manuscript, we can help. Illumify offers book coaching so you don’t need to stare at the computer for hours and hours.

You can schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with me by clicking here.

If you prefer talking to Karen Bouchard, you can schedule a no-obligation consultation with her by clicking here.

Happy Writing!

Michael J. Klassen
President, Illumify Media Global
Write. Market. Publish. SELL!