Writing as a Digital Nomad: Top Ten Tips by Wendy H. Jones
Regular readers of this blog will realise I am rather fond of travelling. In fact I am currently coming to the end of a three month book tour of the USA, taking in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Washington DC and Memphis. I'm having a blast and it has been an opportunity to meet readers, introduce my books to new readers and, quite frankly, have a jolly good time. However, three months is a long time to take out of writing time, so I knew it was important to carve out time for writing. This can be difficult in the midst of endless book signings and events, where every minute seems to be taken up and exhaustion sets in. Also, it can often be difficult to write when not in one's usual environment. What are my tips of doing this?
1. Write whenever you can. It is amazing how much time you can carve out in spare minutes of the day. Twenty minutes here, ten minutes there, it all mounts up.
2. Write wherever you can. Since I started on this journey I have written in hotels, on decks in private homes, in bedrooms, on balconies, in coffee shops, in first class on a British Airway's plane (I was upgraded before you think this is my usual mode of transport), outside a Harley Davidson Showroom and on Amtrak Trains. The Amtrak Trains were amazing as I had two 14 hour train journeys. That's 14 hours of uninterrupted writing, apart from the regular tannoy announcements. You can get. a lot written in 14 hours.
3. Write on whatever you can. Use your laptop, tablet, phone, notebook and pen. Whatever works. I've written on all of those.
4. Each place you go, find your ideal spot to write. I wrote on a balcony looking at the most glorious view of waterways.
5. Work out how you can write when you are with others. I was fortunate that I was with other writers, all of whom were interested in writing.
6. See it as an opportunity to make your writing even richer. Soak up the atmosphere. Watch what is happening around you. Listen to conversations. Look at what people wear and how they act. Look at the surroundings, the wildlife, birds, streets, buildings, environment etc.
7. Get up earlier than you need to and spend an hour writing before breakfast.
8. Instead of switching on the television in your hotel room, crack open your laptop and write.
9. Use it as time to read. Writers should be readers.
10. Remember you are human. Do what you can, when you can, and don't sweat the days you don't get any writing done. Rest is also important.
I hope you found this useful. I would love to hear what your top tips are. Drop them in the comments and let's all learn and write together.
About the Author
Wendy H. Jones is a multi-award-winning, international best-selling author who writes adult crime books, young adult mysteries, children's picture books and non-fiction books for writers. She is also a writing and marketing coach, partner in Auscot Publishing and Retreats, and the CEO of Authorpreneur Accelerator Academy, as well as the president of the Scottish Association of Writers and host of The Writing and Marketing Show podcast. She is currently writing a series of historical fiction novels based around the life of a 19th Century Surgeon in the Royal Navy. She is also a founding partner of Auscot Publishing and Retreats
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Amazon Author Page
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Amazon Author Page
Comments
Yes, let's all learn and write together. Great advice.
I like writing on trains and these long American journeys are excellent for it. I tbink my longest one was from Chicago to Denver. But I agree with your point about fitting a bit of writing in here and there too. I think my oddest writing session was in the waiting-room at Kwikfit while my car was having its MOT test.