Step 3. When (The Planning)
When to write?
Always.
This is serious: you're a writer 24/7, like you're a 24/7 mother or grandfather or football fan.
When you write for yourself, you call it «a diary» and you keep it under your pillow. When you aim to publish your work and get reactions from readers, think and act like a professional.
We recommend making a plan:
- write regularly (a fixed hour each day or a fixed weeknight).
- organise your work (keep it together and keep track of the progress).
- design «the finished product» (a bundle of X poems, Y parts, with a title, a cover and illustrations, with a following order or a theme or a story). If you know where you're going, it's easy to pick the best route.
- read work from writers you admire and study to improve your skills.
- research topics, work on word choice, tune your tone, learn the ins and outs of your tools and software.
- ask opinions from friends, family, beta-readers, other writers.
Once you have a plan, you can always work on the plan, you can always do research or study or read for inspiration, and you are always aware of the next steps.
Every day has 24 hours, which makes «I have no time» a worthless excuse. Say «I have other priorities» instead, and confess that you don't enjoy writing as much as washing dishes, walking the dog or working for money to pay bills. If you have time to sleep, you have time to write. Either keep dreaming, or make your dreams come true and write words that remain.