How I Schedule WRITING TIME ⏰

What's up, my friend? It's the last Wednesday of Preptober (can you believe it??) and in today's video I'm showing you all the "other stuff" that goes into my writing process: how I schedule my writing time, design my routines, keep up my habits, organize my notebook and binder, etc. ALL THE THINGS.

Coming soon: a super SPECIAL video on Nov. 1st!!
And NaNoWriMo vlogs all month long! :)

Tell me in the comments: ARE YOU READY FOR NANO??

0:00 Introduction
1:00 My Writing Routine
6:20 Calendar Blocking
7:53 Healthy Habits
10:08 My 4 Focus Hacks
13:45 My Writing Notebook
16:29 My Scene Cards
17:18 Recap

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Subscribe for weekly episodes of #WritersLifeWednesdays !!

✨R E S O U R C E S✨

MORE VIDEOS YOU WOULD LIKE:

→ HOW TO OUTLINE CHARACTERS

→ HOW TO USE THE 3-ACT STORY STRUCTURE

→ HOW TO WRITE A "STRONG" FEMALE CHARACTER

→ ADDING/SWITCHING PROTAGONISTS IN A STORY

✨F O L L O W ✨

✨ A B O U T ✨
My name is Abbie Emmons I teach writers how to make their stories matter by harnessing the power and psychology of storytelling, transforming their ideas into a masterpiece, and creating a lifestyle that makes their author dreams come true.

Story isn’t about “what happens” — it’s about how what happens affects and transforms the characters. I believe that there is an exact science (a recipe, if you will) behind a perfect story. And if you know what ingredients you need, you can create your own perfect story with ease and confidence. That’s what we talk about every week on this channel – and if it’s something you’re into, be sure to subscribe and join this community!

[vanessamendez]

“Your routine should be your servant, not the other way around” 👌🏼 Couldn’t agree more!

[RiyaPlayzYT]

Abbie:- I make a new routine and stick with it for...
Le me expecting her to say :- 2-3 days (like I do)
Abbie be like:- 2-3 MONTHS!
lol

[ruki]

Calendar blocking has been enormously helpful for me, especially setting it up in Google calendar. Seeing my tasks laid out in this way does something to my brain. It makes the tasks seem more doable when I see the time parameters. I have managed to sail through a grad school term, writing deadlines, and running a household while moving to the mainland from Hawaii using this method. And I learned it from your videos! Thank you a million times!
I can't wait to follow your NaNoWriMo blog this year! Good luck!

[thesamuraiman]

I really like hearing about other people's styles. It gives me motivation.

[carterwillis]

Pro tip, get a job where you work six months out of the year and then spend the rest of the time as a committed author! I am loving it. Great side hustle with good pay, and I’m now not a “starving” artist. Once the books are finished and published, we all pray they bring in enough income to write full time. That said, I tried working a 7-5 job and write in my free time; not as easy as it sounds to stay motivated during those short few hours of availability. This is the move, committing

[heatherhardison]

I’m so excited. This is my first nanowrimo. Got my 20 page outline typed up and ready to go thanks to your prep videos and advice. You inspired me to do nano this year. 😍

[jayleavittphotograph]

As a new writer visiting the write-o-sphere... just have one comment:
"What's up my friend"
You're talking to ME - not the X thousand viewers (my friends) - Much appreciated.

[miguelgraciajr]

I will be doing this from now on. My time has been very unscheduled due to our recent addition to our family and being burned out. This made my day, thank you!!!!

[rowenafrancis]

Love your videos! I binge-watched almost all of them this month. Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge! I'm so excited for Friday!!! This is my first NaNoWriMo and I'm definitely not a pantster, but I'm not finished my outlining yet. AAAHHH!

[allymounga]

Ahhhh I am so crazy excited for Friday. Can’t believe this month is over already.

[heathermacdonald]

Love it! Never really thought about the routine needing an overhaul. We're so quick to kick ourselves when we stray from our resolutions but a lot of times we just need to change things up for a new season. Thanks for the reminder. You're a star!

[thebrookeriley]

I am so excited!! Especially since you said you'll be vlogging! I love it when you vlog. This video inspired me so much!! I am going to keep a NaNo journal, too! 😁😁

[MykkiOnTheCusp]

Having time to write is actually the easy part to me - because I'll squeeze it in wherever I want throughout my day. I'm so excited for Friday....!

[zzdesolatezz]

Abbie you're a treasure, you've been a big help and ty for uploading this series.

[rachu]

I am so thankful to learn the "downtime" Macbook trick. It's working like a charm for me and I'm much more focused when writing at home. Thank you so much!

[robynevershed]

This video is awesome, good work. One of the things I like is organizing but sometimes I can get disorganized, can you please show us how to organize a schedule or routine?

[PrettyMissSunshine]

I'm pretty excited but also feeling not much prepared for it, because i didn't used my time good enough. But i have still a few days/ hours left and i hope i will get some preparation done. Your videos are really inspiring and helps me a lot to believe in myself and my story. can' wait to see your vlogs during Nanowrimo.

[Opalescent]

I am SO ready for NaNoWriMo! Gonna be working on the same project from July, a YA Fantasy, and vlogging the whole time 😄

[jennys]

I stopped halfway through the video to check out your playlists. They are amazing! I'm reading for my first nanowrimo, thank you for all your videos and tips. I've followed your outlining methods and feel pretty prepared :) Good luck with your own nano!

[sarahy.]

your Bullet Journals would look SO AMAZING, so if you DO start one next year, please show us!

Aaaah, yay! So excited you're doing a vlog again! Also, that notebook didn't look THAT minimalistic, haha. Also, I couldn't tell what the yellow ribbon header things were for. Days? Weeks? I think it's a great idea to have a setup like that. I've never seen or thought of something like that before, and I would like to know more!