Guide for Hobbyist Authors, pt. 2
Mostly a whiney rant about how writing is soooo hard!!!!!!
Hey y’all, it’s KimBoo! I’m an author and a podcaster who is also a librarian, text technology historian, and former I.T. project manager. I write about a lot of interesting things, I hope you agree! Please consider supporting me (and my dog!) so I can keep throwing errata & etcetera into the Scriptorium! Find my fiction at the Bibliotheca!
This is the second post in the Hobbyist Author Guide series; please read the initial overview to see where we’re at and where we’re going!
Writing.
For many professional authors, writing is both our favorite thing to do and also the thing we try to avoid at all costs. It’s hard work that takes up a lot of brain power and energy, but the results are so very worth it. Once we get the results, that is!
I don’t think it is very different for hobbyist authors, either. We all want to have written the thing, but struggle with actually writing the thing. Why can’t it just appear on my bookshelf, fully formed from the ideas in my mind?????
When someone talks to me about “a book I’d love write, someday” it is often accompanied by a litany of failed attempts at writing, or questions about how to finish a project they keep restarting. I can count on one hand the number of times someone has come to me and said, “I have a book I’ve already written. What do I do now?” No, by and large, it’s the actual writing part that people need help with.
Writing stories is one of my favorite things to do in the world, but unfortunately I don’t have any quick and dirty hacks for getting the words onto the page for you. Quite frankly, I don’t trust anyone who does.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t have any advice at all!
The basic, hard truth here is that to publish a book, you first need to write a book. Writing comes first. The good news is that everything can be fixed in edits!
Which means you do not need to worry about how good your writing is while you are actively writing.
All you need to do is sit down and write. Just start. Today! Now! Do it!
Tips & Tricks
No two professional authors write the same, and despite what some charlatans tell you, there is no One Right Way to get the writing done. Here is a quick overview of approved and successful ways you can use to write your book:
Sit down and write. Or stand. Or walk. Just write.
Dictation counts as writing.
Fifty words a day counts as writing.
Fifty words every other day counts as writing.
Co-writing (body doubling) counts as writing.
You are writing if you write every day or once a week. It all counts.
No one cares how you write, just write.
You can write using a pencil, pen, or keyboard. Or chalk. No one cares.
All first drafts are bad. Just write.
You can follow an outline, or just wing it (aka “pantsing”). It’s still writing.
WRITE!
The one trick that professional authors lean on that amateurs generally don’t is accountability. If you really want to move the needle on your word count, holding yourself accountable is the best way to go. That said, there are different ways of doing that, but (again!) it doesn’t matter which you choose. Use whatever works!
Here are the four best “accountability hacks” for getting some writing done:
Outsourcing Accountability: Knowing that someone else is expecting a progress report from you can be a powerful motivator. There are many ways to implement this, starting with setting up a daily check-in with a friend via text or email to share your goals or report on the previous day's accomplishments (a.k.a. an “Accountabilibuddy”). Online co-writing sessions on platforms like YouTube and Facebook groups are another great way to stay on track. Writers’ communities on Discord often have dedicated channels for live writing sprints, where groups gather to write for a set period and share their progress.
Tracking: Tracking is all about holding yourself accountable and making your progress visible. For some writers, seeing daily or weekly progress can be a huge motivator—though if tracking feels discouraging or stressful, don’t be afraid to skip it! There are plenty of options to choose from, whether you prefer the simplicity of a spreadsheet, the creative flexibility of a bullet journal, or digital tools like Notion or Pacemaker Planner to log your writing sessions.
Gamify Your Writing: If you love gaming, turning your writing into a fun challenge can make it easier to stay engaged. This could be as simple as rewarding yourself with a treat or special event when you hit your word count goal. For a more immersive experience, platforms like 4theWords transform writing into an RPG adventure, where your progress earns in-game rewards. You can also create your own "writing quest" by setting a bold challenge—like completing a novel in four to six weeks—while awarding yourself points, milestones, and prizes along the way.
Deadlines: The OG writing hack! We love to hate a deadline, but they are effective. True, it is hard to set a deadline for yourself, as most freelancers know. But if you can commit to a deadline, then this is a great way to see a project through to the end. One method is to put your book on your editor’s schedule before it’s done, giving you a hard deadline to finish the draft (although a word of caution: if you blow off such deadlines, your editor might end up firing you as an unreliable client! This is how you lose your deposit $ and goodwill, so don’t take this road unless you are confident you can hit the mark). Some professionals set up pre-orders on sales sites for the same reason. Making a public declaration of your deadline on your social media platform of choice is a good option if peer pressure motivates you.
One warning I want to make here is don’t over-commit. It is a newbie mistake to think something like, “I can write 200 words in an hour, so if I write for four hours a day for two months, I’ll have a book!” Writing for four hours a day is in fact doable, but it is something you have to work up to, and it is a very rare writer who can do that kind of brute-force writing every day.
Say it with me: writing is hard.
Spend a whole day writing, and you will feel exhausted. Do that for weeks on end, and you will drive yourself straight into burnout.
In fact, I would argue that the biggest mistake hobbyist authors make is trying to do too much in too short a time span, to the point where they simply give up in exhaustion or, if they persist, end up burnt out and hating their work.
I have known quite a few professional authors who eventually worked up to writing three thousand to ten(!!!!!) thousand words a day in order to keep up with a punishing publishing schedule, only to disappear after a year or two because they burned themselves out so hard. A few returned to writing, but usually only after a multi-year break from it.
My advice is to start with your minimum. If that is just twenty minutes a day, or 100 words a day, that is ideal. You will quickly ramp up to writing more, and writing faster, I promise! If that seems slow to you, do the math: 250 word per day for five days a week for a year is 65,000 words—a whole novel. This is really a case where less can be more, if you stick with it.
My friend
has run writing retreats for years. One thing she cautions attendees is that they need to start writing before they get to the retreat, because if they expect to show up and spend eight hours a day writing without having built up the brain muscle to do that, they will end up extremely disappointed.Just like every other thing we have to learn how to do in life, the secret is practice practice practice!
As long as you are writing and trust the process and keep writing you will hit your goals!
Tech Stack
In the technology crowd, a “tech stack” is simply all the tools you use for your work, including the actual hardware (computer, laptop), services (internet connectivity, web hosting platforms, etc.), and software/apps.
For our purposes here, I’m talking about two separate “stacks” of technology that you need (and remember, even a pencil is “technology” in this context!): productivity tools and writing tools.
Productivity
Attention/focus apps: These are apps that lock you out of the internet/social media in order to keep your attention from straying. I recommend Freedom.to but there are others out there. A lot of internet providers these days have apps to control your modem/router, so start there if you work from home!
Sound: You might not think of sound, or the lack of sound, as important, but most professional authors know it is crucial. You might have to play around with what works for you, but there are plenty of options from playlists to noise canceling headphones. Consider whether you need ambient noise (rainfall, cafe sounds, fireplace crackling noises), chill music (lofi girl is popular for a reason!), a specific type of music (I listened to a lot of modern bluegrass while writing Dawn in the Orchard, for instance), or deep silence.
Pomodoro/writing sprints: Using pomodoro apps for writing sprints is really popular, but in a pinch a good old fashioned clock app with a timer or stopwatch can serve the purpose. Focus on writing for ten or twenty minutes, take a break, and then do another sprint.
Time tracking: This doesn’t work for me, but if you want to approach your writing like it’s your job, using a time tracking app such as Clockify, Clockspot, or Gusto can put you in the mind frame for writing. A simpler option is just using a spreadsheet like Excel or Google Sheets to track your time (both have plenty of “time card” templates).
Note taking: Don’t underestimate how much a paper journal or note taking app like Notion, Evernote, OneNote, or Obsidian can help you be productive. Using it to store ideas, brainstorming sessions, or plot outlines can be invaluable. Trust the pros: no, you cannot keep it all in your head!
Writing
As with all my recommendations, my suggestion is to keep it simple. If you have used MS Word for years and are comfortable using it, then keep using it. Same for Google Docs or Apple Pages. Or, for that matter, Notes or Notion or Evernote.
But if you feel like your work has outgrown those programs, or you want something with more features, there are plenty of options for you to try out! That said, it is important to understand that there is no One True and Perfect Writing App, because writing is an extremely individual process that no two writers do the same way. For instance, I love Scrivener and have used it for fifteen years, but one professional author I know tried it out, asked for a refund, and continues to do all of her writing using Google Docs.
The most important thing is to be willing to switch apps if one is not working for you. There is no law that says all writers must use MS Word! Other options include Scrivener, Campfire, Novlr, Ulysses (for Mac), WorldAnvil, LivingWriter, 4TheWords, and Dabble. Some you can buy, some are subscription based, and most have at least a small learning curve. Try out a few if you can and see how your brain works best!
Next Up: The Doldrums (a.k.a. editing!)
So you’ve written your book at last! Now what?
Editing, of course!
Some people enjoy editing more than others, but everyone agrees that it can be a slog. The next post in this series explains the different types of editing (yes, there is more than one kind!), how to figure out what type of editing you need, tools that can help along the way, and what you should expect to get out of the process.
If you have any questions please leave a comment!
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I went on a mad sprint of writing at the end of my last book. I wasn’t keeping track of the hours but my body was seriously unhappy. My back hurt, my shoulders hurt and one of the fingers on my right hand ached. I don’t know if it was from the handwriting or the typing up or both but ugh… someone needs to write a post on how to keep good posture while writing. I might need to start wearing a corset or something just so I don’t bend so far forward.
Looking forward to the edits one as that’s where I am right now. I mark up the manuscript with all the different kinds of edits which means I need to do one more tidy up editing pass after that.