How to Make a Quarantine Writing Schedule...WITHOUT Losing It

I'm not going to say "here's how I turned a global pandemic into an OPPORTUNITY!" because that's totally asinine and not at all true. I am going to say "here's how, while coping with this new reality to the best of my ability, I've managed to stay productive." And maybe it'll be helpful! Who knows.

Despite quarantine, general isolation, and nebulous employment, I've managed to stay pretty productive by giving myself a sense of structure that flat out does not exist in a lot of other areas of my life. I'm no expert by any means (and if you need a refresher on my credentials, you're basically taking advice from someone who's published a grand total of one thing and has no formal training in this area), but it seems to me that publishing is doing okay in these uncertain times. Things are functioning remotely. Maybe they're not stellar, but they're functioning. That's more than can be said for most other industries.

Thankfully, this means publishing still employs wonderful, wonderful things like deadlines. Oh, deadlines, how I've missed you. How I've missed structure. 

This strategy guide basically consists of taking existing deadlines, brute-forcing them into your life, and giving yourself month-by-month goals to stave off the burgeoning urge to creep around your yellow-wallpapered room. 

As an example, here's what my notebook schedule looks like for the month of July:

Important dates
July 29th: SFFPit (Pitch Book 2?)
July 31st: FictionFive Results!
Writing goals: Two shorts, Prompt 3 and Prompt 4
Editing goals: Three shorts, Prompts 2, 3, and 4
Planning goals: Book 3
Query goals: Book 1, rolling basis

Not too bad, right? I mean, it's a lot, but it's for the entire month. I've redacted the titles of my shorts and books, but I think you still get the gist. Let's break it down:

Dates
They're here to give you structure. Do some research. Find out if there are any Twitter pitch events, submission deadlines, or contest entries coming up that are relevant to you. I promise, having something to count down to makes it better. You should be able to find at least one thing per month and if you can't, plan something. Have a discussion night with your critique partners over Zoom! Put all your beta readers in one Discord server and go nuts. Bam, there's something to put on your schedule. 

Goals
The writing goals are arbitrary and can be modified to fit your schedule as needed, but I know I can write at least 30k words a month if I stay accountable. Here, that 30k includes writing, editing, and planning. It all counts! Give yourself credit!

I'm going to be a little stricter about the submission goals and say that I think you should try to have at least one thing out to at least one person at all times. That's not so bad, right? Your mileage may vary depending on whether you're writing shorts or books or what have you, but waiting for emails is a valid reason to get up in the morning and keep making stuff. Right now, I have no shorts out on submission (I'm writing and editing pretty hard to get ready for a themed issue's submissions in August), but I'm querying a book I hope to one day share stats for. When I use "rolling basis" up there to describe the way I'm querying, it basically means I send out a new query every time I get a query response. I have a dozen out at a time, and so far things seem fine. Mostly.

Takeaway
This is all about having something to look forward to. Maybe you're looking forward to a rejection email, or the results of a contest you forgot you entered, or feedback from a beta, or a magazine opening for submissions, or a pitch party, or any of those things. The point is to find something. One or two things a month. Stack them up, give yourself some goals, and you've got the beginnings of a very solid list of reasons for not giving up.

If you give up now, you'll miss that pitch party right around the corner! If you give up now, you'll miss this magazine's themed issue submission that sounds so perfect for your writing style! If you give up now, you'll...possibly find it even harder to cope with the pandemic.

Writing helps. Making things helps. Doing stuff when you can helps. It's still hard and draining and isolating, but you've got this. We all do.
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