It's pointless taking any work on if you haven't factored in enough time, that's obvious. Especially if you like to juggle a few jobs at the same time.
Questions to ask yourself:
- Do you have any current commitments that are more important?
- When is your current project deadline?
- Do you have enough hours to share between both projects to get them both finished?
Understanding What is Feasible
Knowing your limitations is half the battle of completing any job. You need to understand where your boundaries are and figure out how long it will take you to complete a job. Some people can write anywhere from 50,000 - 100,000 words a month once they get started. However many words you are able to write in the given time frame needs to be factored into and made manageable in order for you to complete the job on time, because some clients may expect a certain amount of words to be written overall. Don't forget you're writing a high standard and publishable quality, and not every writer has the ability to write like that.
Some people don't mind if you take a little longer to write a book, it's the quality of the finished product that they really want.
The Best Methods to Track Your Time
When you start to get really busy with your ghostwriting you may have more than one deadline to meet, you need some simple tools to keep track of all of your ghostwriting.
Use Calendars, Planners and Other Paper Related Methods
Calendars and planners are probably the most simple way of tracking your planning and writing. There's no harm in making a paper and digital copy of what you'll be doing each week, day or monthly.
Otherwise you could be left in a sticky situation if you don't know where you left off if a family emergency occurs.
Use Spreadsheets to Keep Track of Your Ghostwriting Assignments
You could pull together a spreadsheet and include your client's name, the name of the book or job you're working on and the date from and to.
Making room for a brief description just to remind yourself of which job it is.
Making a Record of Particular Client Writing Styles and Preferences
Once you get your ghostwriting business up and running you might want to make up a spreadsheet as a reminder of what that particular client's writing style is, so that you can go straight to it if they want to use your writing talent again.
You can include any guidelines that each client may ask for.
How to make each ghostwriting job more manageable:
- Put all of your information down on paper.
- Create a rough structure (bringing all of your thoughts and ideas in some kind of order).
- Work out how much time it will take you to write each week, this will be helpful especially if you've been told how much the client is expecting in the end product.
- Write down your timescale and include weekly goals of how many words you need to write to get your assignment complete.
- Turn your goals into a plan and put it somewhere close by where you can see it and visualise what you need to get done.
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