As I mentioned in my last post, I’m writing a book! It’s been a validating experience, and I’m learning a lot. That being said, it’s also been a learning experience as far as juggling writing a book with working as a freelance writer! In case anyone else decides to double-dip, writing-wise, I’ve got a few tips to share on juggling the two of them!

Top 5 tips for working on a WIP

These tips helped keep my motivation up for both types of writing. I found quite a few interesting and eye-opening since it’s been a struggle in ways that I didn’t expect!

1. Separate your writing times: This is the one that surprised me the most. I initially thought that doing my writing back-to-back would keep me focused and on-task. Instead, it exhausted me. So I split up my writing as much as I could. I did my freelance writing in the morning and my book writing in the evening. I wrote about 3 000 words per day for my book.
2. Give yourself a reward when you finish your WIP writing: I struggled with this so much. I tend to delay my gratification as much as possible, so I had to push myself to take my reward after I finished my WIP writing. Looking back on the process, however, I was happy that I decided to do that! It really helped me celebrate the writing I got done and made me more motivated to write more the next day.

3. Have a really detailed WIP outline/plan: Since my mind would be tired by the time I sat down to work on my WIP, I had to really rely on my outline and plan to keep me on-task. If I hadn’t outlined as well as I did, I would have given up somewhere along the way!

4. Plan for days off from WIP writing: I didn’t actually schedule days off in my planner, but I made sure that I gave myself permission to take a day off writing when needed. To keep me from taking too many days off, I limited my days off to 2 per week!

5. Prioritize work when you’re feeling blocked: If you can’t stand sitting down and working on any writing, focus on work-related writing! If you work on your WIP instead, you’ll feel so guilty it’ll chase you around. Worst-case scenario, your WIP can be pushed a day or two. A deadline for a paying client doesn’t always have that flexibility!

Double the writing, double the fun

Since I’m a writer, I do enjoy writing. That’s kinda obvious, right? However, it did take me by surprise that I struggled to balance the two types of writing with creativity and energy. That being said, I’m also pleased that I decided to try it. It’s nice to know for the future since I intend to write more books!

Whether you write part-time or full-time, it’s nice to know that writing a book is something that you can balance with the rest of your writing-related work. Do you have any tips that you use to help you stay focused on a WIP? Any hacks that could have made my process easier? Please let me know