The efficient writer
How to make the process of writing and promoting your book as simple and effective as possible.
We have a word in the North of England: Dossy. ‘Dossing about’ means ‘to slack off’, ‘a doss’ is something which is a doddle. When you’re a teenager, anything ‘dossy’ is easy, it’s a laugh, although when you’re older, you realise it’s less of a compliment. If something’s dossy, you’re not really putting much effort into what you’re doing.
Some people think that being an author is a bit ‘dossy.’
That the life of a writer means sitting in a coffee shop tapping out a few paragraphs between sips of Chai latte and light people watching before going for a spot of Pilates or lunch with friends.
And being an author certainly has its wonderful moments.
Writing, not dossing, in the library of the beautiful Bingham hotel.
But increasingly, publishing is a tough and busy business, with so much more to do than when my first novel was published nearly twenty years ago.
Writing your book is just the start of it. There’s the PR - writing short stories or soul-baring memoir pieces for newspapers, magazines and blogs – often for free – all in the name of building your profile.
Hours have to be voted devoted to social media - Facebook, TikTok, X and Instagram, interacting with readers and industry players. You have to write newsletters and go on PR tours - some of my most successful author friends are spending up to three or four months on the road, their schedules jammed with meetings, book readings and literary festival appearances. No one is moaning - it is generally good fun, but it’s definitely not a doss, especially when writing a book isn’t your full-time job yet, when you’re having to fit it into the gaps of real life.
When there’s more to do, and only so many hours in the day, you have to improve your efficiency.
I know how important this is, because this time two years ago, I suffered horrible burn-out; there were too many balls being juggled in the air, not enough proper downtime, and looking back, way too much unproductive busyness. So learning how to get stuff done in an effective, streamlined way has become a priority.
Here are a few strategies that have worked…