On the Clock

 Here’s a bit of trivia that could change your writing habits:

Mechanical clocks were invented to call the faithful to prayer.

In the 12^th and 13^th centuries, several European cathedrals installed clock towers powered by falling water or metallic springs to mark the canonical hours (i.e., times designated for prayer). These clocks seldom had faces or hands, simply a bell to chime the times to rise from bed and pray. They had to be adjusted throughout the year, since canonical hours were measured from sunrise or sunset, which changed with the seasons.

Muslim mathematicians devised clocks of their own for the same purpose. Faithful Muslims pray five times each day, two of which are sunset and evening. So what are the exact times of those darkening hours?  A clock establishes them. When a Muslim clock indicates the time for prayer, a muezzin cries out from a tower to call worshipers to their duty.

What does this have to do with our writing habits? Simply this: 

Each of us eventually learns that we are most productive if we begin our writing at the same time every day.

If you’ve ever worked in a factory, you know what it means to be “on the clock.” When you begin your work day, you punch a time card in a device that records your time in, and when you stop work for lunch or the end of the day, you punch the card again to record your time out. The span between is your time “on the clock”—time you are focused on your work, time for which you will be paid.

As a writer, what’s your daily time “on the clock”? This is when you go to the niche you devote to writing, you turn off your phone ringer, and pay no attention to incoming emails. This is the place and time you dedicate to writing, nothing else.

If you’re falling short of your writing goals, ask yourself when you’re on the clock. If you haven't identified such a time, try designating one. Set alarms for the start and end of your daily writing time, and follow that schedule without fail. It’ll improve your productivity.

Joe Allison writes both fiction and nonfiction, and has been a member of the Indiana chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers since 2010. He lives in Anderson, IN, with his wife Maribeth.