Get a life if you want to write a novel. Have a schedule and passionately participate in physical activities. Writing a novel is hard work and it will take time and effort, but you can’t live in a bubble either. Your imaginative mind must have time to decompress and getting your blood flowing is the way to do it.

GET A SCHEDULE

“I want to write a novel.” How many times have you said this to yourself or others in the last year? Have you been thinking about it for over a decade? Be honest. When you turned 30, did you say I’ll really do it this time? But when you woke up with a hangover the morning after your 33rd birthday, you still had nothing to show for it. You’d be reading Twilight or The Lord of the Rings for the fiftieth time, but you haven’t put two words together in your novel.

It is not going to write alone, believe me. You have to ask yourself, “How badly do I want to write a novel?” DON’T TELL YOURSELF YOU CAN’T WRITE A NOVEL BECAUSE YOU HAVE A JOB OR A FAMILY – TOTALLY NO SENSE! Are you willing to get up at 4:30 am and write? Are you willing to go to a coffee shop with just your laptop instead of the gym for 6 to 9 months? Are you willing to stop drinking alcohol? Time to get serious! Make some sacrifices! Tell yourself that you can do this! You can write a novel!

Of all the steps in Wicker How to Write a Novel, having a schedule may be the most important (as well as having a bit of cheekiness). So this is what you should do:

1. STOP DRINKING ALCOHOL (AT LEAST UNTIL THE BOOK IS FINISHED)

If you don’t drink, skip this. But many of my intellectual maniacs, lovers of books, reading and writing enjoy a glass of glass, chardonnay or IPA from time to time. The problem with alcohol is that you are practically useless to write as soon as you have a drink, and surely, as a shinola, you will not get up before dawn to write after drinking the night before. And don’t try to compare yourself to Hemingway. You are not him. And frankly, it probably would have been better if he had given up the wine.

2. MAKE THE INVENTORY OF YOUR SCHEDULE AND CUT SOMETHING

You may think you’re too busy to write a book, but the truth is, no one is that important. Do you have time. You just need to remove a few things.

For example, cut a little sleep. (Hey! We’re serious! Didn’t you read Part 1? You’re participating in one of the biggest efforts since the moon landing! So make a real commitment!) YES – REDUCE SOME OF YOUR SLEEP TIME. One of the best ways to do this is to wake up around 4:00 a.m. and drag your butt straight (well, okay, you can make coffee first) onto your desk. Once there, start writing right away. Don’t check your email or Instagram accounts. Do not feed the cat, do not go to get the paper or look at your children while they sleep. This is the best time of all to write because most sane people sleep. They won’t bother you. So take advantage of this secret vortex of loneliness and weave your wonderful stories together.

Prepare for the fight. Unless you’re a Marine or possibly mentally deranged (if it’s the latter, let’s compare notes), waking up at 4:00 a.m. Just do it, is all I can say. Once you do it a few times, you will realize how much time you have wasted with alcohol because there is no way you can do it any other way.

Now it can be a postman or a neurosurgeon on call at 4:00 am; writing before dawn may not be an option for you. However, take a look at your typical schedule. Do you go to the gym? Do you go to church? Do you cook at home? Giving up something for 9 months. Stop going to the gym, stop cooking for your family, quit Sunday school, or eliminate the Rotary Club for God’s sake. Go to a library and write instead of wasting time on the treadmill. Write a few paragraphs and take your family out to dinner. Just do whatever it takes to take the time to write and work on your book.

3. WRITE YOUR SCHEDULE AND LEAVE IT

Once you’ve figured out when to write, stick with it like a fan. Treat it like it’s something that needs to be done NO MATTER WHAT. Like Pavlov’s dog, when it’s 4 in the morning, he should automatically wake up with a compelling need to create!

II. DO EXERCISE

Now I know that you are already making some sacrifices, just setting aside some time. You may even be thinking, “What the heck? Didn’t you say to quit the gym so you can write?” Yes, and frankly, if you’re so busy that just having an extra hour is like pulling your teeth out, then that’s okay, you can skip this part. But I still think it’s almost essential to keep your creative brain flexible and fit by moving your body.

Your brain gets compressed when you engage in the creative process of writing. Your consciousness goes to another world, one that you are creating out of nothing. You are not a deity, but remember that even God rested after the sixth day of the creation of the universe and all that. You are also creating and need to unzip. Get some space between you and the imaginary world that flows from you. When you do this, you will have a new perspective on your creative work. New ideas will come in and you will also notice some things in the story that need to be fixed.

How do you decompress? Get yourself a hobby. When I was writing The Morning Tree, the main characters were studying Kendo. I studied Muay Thai and Kali when I was younger, but never Kendo. So I joined a local dojo. Very soon, I was attending regular classes and now I have been studying Kendo for 3 and a half years at the time of writing this article. It has kept a new perspective for me and my mind has remained engaged. You can do other things like taking long walks, going to the gym, working on puzzles, riding a bike, doing yoga, gardening, checking a broadcast, etc. Whatever it is, do something else besides writing that gets the blood flowing and distracts the mind.

III. ALTERNATIVELY – GET A HOBBY

I realize that not everyone can go to the gym. When I was 15 years old, I had Guillain-Barré syndrome, which partially paralyzed me. After two years of physical therapy and effort I recovered. Not everyone has the luxury (and it is a luxury) to run, lift weights, practice martial arts, or even mow the lawn. But if you can’t get a lot of physical activity, I suggest you tune out with something like sewing, drawing, building models, and the like. By the way, mindless activities like watching TV or playing games with an iPad DO NOT count. We are talking about using your mind here, just not creating through writing. You need to disconnect from writing and let your mind wander to some other activity to allow room for the creative side of your brain to heal, like a runner needs time to recover after a marathon.

Whatever you do, STAY COMMITTED, FOLLOW YOUR SCHEDULE, DON’T GIVE UP, AND LONGER YOU HAVE THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR BOOK.

YOU CAN DO IT!