3 Ways to Keep Writing While Going Back to School

How to Know if Your Writing is Improving Book Review: Heist Society

3 Ways to Keep Writing While Going Back to School

I’m back everyone!

Summer was crazy, full of ups and downs and loads of adventure, but here we are!

I’m back at school and in the dorms.

I’ve previously talked about the importance of keeping a schedule and setting aside time to write. Read about it here. I wrote this post in 2020, and my life looks nothing like it did back then, so it’s time to reevaluate how I keep writing in my life now.

How to Have Time for School AND Writing.

To fill you in on what my schedule looks like now, I’m a full-time college student starting my senior year. I have a part-time job at a restaurant and spend as much time as possible in my internship for my career as an ASL/English Interpreter.

I’ll be honest, my writing has been put on the back burner for much of the past year and a half, and that’s okay. Everyone needs to take a break sometimes to focus on a different aspect of their life.

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-4261" style="width:236px;height:157px" width="236" height="157" srcset="https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co... 236w, https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co... 472w, https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co... 150w, https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co... 300w" sizes="(max-width: 236px) 100vw, 236px" />Photo by Todoran Bogdan on Pexels.com

That being said, I have worked writing time into my schedule for this semester, and I’ve worked out ways to hold myself accountable in order to make sure something is getting done.

Here is how you can do the same:

Keep a schedule!This is what my post in 2020 mainly covered. Keeping a schedule is SO important, especially as a college student. Trying to balance classes, work, a social life, and downtime is difficult enough. Add in your job as an author and it’s just one more thing to juggle.I highly admire my mom when it comes to juggling. (Not that she can actually juggle. That I know of.) Taking care of five kids, homeschooling, teaching her own art classes, and managing a household on a daily basis is a lot. Yet she still does it while making time to talk to me each day and answer my endless phone calls while I’m at school.If you don’t put writing into your schedule, it isn’t going to happen. Read that again.If you don’t put writing into your schedule, it isn’t going to happen.If you can visually see in your calendar when you’re going to write or work on your stories, then it takes away the stress of feeling like you never have time for it. When you set aside that time, you are more likely to accomplish something than nothing at all.Plan out your process!After creating your schedule in a way that works for YOU, plan how you will use that time. Know what story you’re going to work on; plan if you’re going to edit, brainstorm, or write.Create a plan of action so you know what you need to do first, second, and last.By planning ahead how you will you use your writing time, you will spend less time sitting there thinking and more time actually doing.Hold yourself accountable!This is a difficult one for me because I always prioritize everything else before my writing.Set up a system to hold yourself accountable so you actually use that writing time for your books. This can look like another person checking in that you did what you said you would or a self-rewarding system to encourage yourself. Provide some sort of incentive.It can take a couple tries until you figure out what works for you (just like your schedule).Be FlexibleOkay, I know I said three ways to keep writing, but this is a bonus.Be flexible, go easy on yourself.If your schedule changes, don’t freak out. (I remind myself of this constantly.) If you don’t get to write when you planned to, that’s okay. Sometimes projects take longer than we hoped. Trust me, I know from experience.

It’s much easier said than done when it comes to all of this, I know. It takes time to create what works for you and even more time to make it a habit.

My accountability:

This semester, my goal is to get back into my writing. I’ve set up my schedule and planned writing/editing sessions Mondays and Thursdays in the morning. (Hopefully, I’ll get a third day in every week, but we’ll start with two.)

In order to hold myself accountable, I’ve decided to share what I accomplish in that time with all of you. This is a way of being able to track what I’ve done and show myself (and you) that my scheduled writing time is happening and productive.

I encourage you to join my Facebook Writers group!

Here I will post about my writing sessions and progress. You are encouraged to do the same! Share what your writing schedule is and how your progress is going. Keep in mind this is not a place to self-advertise, but a group to support, encourage, and hold each other accountable in our writing journeys!

Join the group here! https://www.facebook.com/groups/940057467093290/

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-2894" style="width:352px;height:251px" width="352" height="251" srcset="https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co... 352w, https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co... 704w, https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co... 150w, https://reklinzing.files.wordpress.co... 300w" sizes="(max-width: 352px) 100vw, 352px" />Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

So here is your guidline in order to make sure you still give your stories the time they deserve along with your school, your job, your kids, or whatever else you have going on in your life:

Keep a schedule!Plan out your process!Hold yourself accountable!Be flexible!

The best of luck to all your endeavors as we head back to school!

(Hope to see y’all in the Facebook group!)

R.E. Klinzing

R.E. Klinzing is the author of the T.S.O. series and many more books to come. She published her first book, Finding Doom, when she was sixteen, but she’s been writing since she knew how to spell. R.E. Klinzing currently lives in East Tennessee where she’s a full-time college student majoring in ASL/English Interpreting.When she isn’t writing, R.E. Klinzing loves kicking, paddle boarding, and watching silly dramas with her siblings.

Interested in reading Finding Doom? Check it out here!

Join Newsletter

Join the Newsletter to receive exclusive behind-the-scenes info, special updates, chapter sneak peeks, deleted scenes, and more!

Processing… Success! You're on the list. Whoops! There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. Please reload the page and try again. How to Know if Your Writing is Improving