I am trying to increase my daily writing time. Currently I’m roughly at two hours a day, but in November, I hope to increase it significantly.

But what do I mean by writing time? What does it include, and, more importantly, what does it exclude?

My writing time includes three elements: outlining, scene writing (or section writing for non-fiction work), and editing. Outlining includes deep, active thinking about scene content, and then ordering this content. Scene writing is direct writing. And editing includes developmental editing, copy editing, polishing, and formatting.

What’s not included in writing time? Brainstorming, researching, social media (including blogging), craft development, conferences, business development and marketing.

Effectively, my writing time is strictly composed of the physical and mental tasks essential to putting words down on the page and finishing a physical or digital book, and for me to achieve my goals, it needs to be my most sacred time.