I'm having one of those days, in one of those weeks. You know, where you have writing projects that need attention and life keeps getting in the way? Wise use of time available insures some writing gets done. But let me back up here and set the stage...
First of all, I don't work outside the home, but I sure do work inside it. While I have given up a lot of other projects, I still have a big garden, and I have to at least make sure people get fed, dishes get done, and there is clean clothing to wear. Now and then, I take a layer off the dust, so that looks all freshly fallen again...
Knowing that weekends get chaotic around here, I spent most of last weekend blogging. I had just finished two deadline short story projects over the last several weeks, and then the first draft of a novel I've been picking away at since last October. Figuring I would be interrupted quite often, I put time into getting this blog set up. I got COMPANION DRAGONS TALES out of mothballs and refurbished, and then finally got something with pictures up on our hobby blog, IN MY "SPARE" TIME. Blogging is something I can easily leave and come back to later, if anything else pressing comes up, because it's not as dependent on that spur-of-the-moment muse input. As it turned out, other than a visit from family on Sunday and some 'in and out' folks while yard work was being done, I had most of the weekend to myself. It was still wisely spent time, as here on the blog, I can expound on whatever happens to be the topic-du-jour without hitting some sort of post length limit, or having what I write become lost in that carnival atmosphere of the social networking sites. It's hard to compete for attention span in between game requests, random status updates, and cute cat pictures with captions. Here, this is my show entirely.
So, since I have no budget for personal web space right now, blogging makes more sense than endlessly posting on Facebook, Twitter, or even G+. Oh sure, the social networking sites have their uses, because if you have an open public persona like I do, you can easily interact with readers and network with other writers and publishers. But to have the time and place to share more detailed ideas and info, you really need some web real estate of your own. Blogs are wonderful, because they are basically free sites where you can post all sorts of interesting things, and they're fairly simple to link together or with other sites online. When I put a new post here, I can tout it elsewhere. Win-win!
All part of that balance thing...
Writing time is a precious commodity, even in this all adult household. I used to have dreams of what being an empty-nester would be like, and they were not at all realistic. Life does get in the way at any age, and sometimes you just have to work around the interfering situation. Of course the more responsibilities you have, the more demands on your time, and you have to adjust the writing schedule accordingly. As long as you're clear on the fact that these are necessary things which must be dealt with, you're going to have to deal with them first and then squeeze writing time in wherever you can. But let's be honest—constant checking of Facebook and email, engaging in long-winded chats, or zoning out with online games are not interruptions. They are distractions. That's something you do to yourself to avoid sitting down to write. I've been guilty of a few of those too. It's a tough call sometimes, because I am a family person and I love my friends, and if someone wants to spend time with me, I'm likely to throw deadlines to the wind and go. So unlike all those articles that tell you '15 things published writers do right" I'm not going to preach to you. You're an adult, you should know where to draw the line. If you're always finding other things to do instead of writing, maybe you don't have the passion for this.
So how's the week been so far you ask?
Monday I was home alone with the dog, and had a bunch of vegetables that had to be dealt with. If you garden, that's going to happen. When I got done, it was late in the day, I was completely wiped out, and my back was nagging me relentlessly. The only writing I did was going over the final chapter of the book I just finished the first draft of. I was pleased that I got even that much done after such a long day. I was hoping to have the next day free to start from the top and begin my second pass.
Yeah, right. Murphy's Law always trumps in when you make other plans.
Tuesday I had to run out and help my mother renew her health benefits. That was a necessity, and it required picking her up, going over forms, and her appearing in person with me at her side to answer whatever she didn't understand. While we were out, I did some shopping, because half the day was blown anyway, and gas is far too expensive to make multiple trips. I live in the country, everything is at least a 15 minute drive away. By the time we got home, I was burned out once more. After briefly catching up online, my back, right hip, and knee were screaming they had taken all the abuse they could that day. So I took a nap. Writing under those circumstances is not going to amount to much.
Tuesday night I got a manuscript back from one of the writers I edit for. That kind of set me up for the rest of this week. Wednesday I spent the majority of at my PC, first working at the guest manuscript and then starting my second pass on my own novel. I did take breaks for things like doing dishes and straightening up, because I'm not wealthy enough to be able to afford a housekeeper. Besides I need the exercise. Writing is sedentary work. I got 1/4 of each done, and felt like that was a pretty enough.
Today—more veggies. The back is better, the hip and knee are still unhappy, but they have to be dealt with, because produce doesn't keep. When I took my quick race around the web before settling down to work, I decided this blog needed another post. What better to write about than how tough it is to work writing in between all those other things life tosses your way? So I spent about half an hour getting some ideas down, saved and closed out, with the intention of coming back to this later in the day. Things did not go as quickly as I hoped, so I decided not to linger too long elsewhere online this evening. After dinner and dishes, I sat down to finish this while the ballgame was on. I want tomorrow for more editing, so tonight I am putting in some overtime. An author site of any kind needs to be updated regularly to remain interesting.
Now weekends here get crazy, and they often start before Saturday, because we have ongoing renovations worked around everyone's work schedule (except mine—GRUMBLE).
Since my current 'office' is in one end of the dining room in an open floor plan ell, there are often noisy people trooping through. Sometimes I have my mother for most of the day, and because of her advancing age, memory loss, and frailty, I won't sit with my back to her, typing. Every moment we have now is precious. I have learned to use Monday through Wednesday are my most productive days, but I get what I can done the rest of the week. It varies a lot, but even this year when I have been ill a couple times and have another grandson due any day, I've written several short stories and turned in one novel-length anthology. I have another novel that will be heading to editing soon. I've had one novel and a children's book see print this year, as well as two short stories so far in different anthologies. I have also edited three books and a couple short stories for others. Admittedly, it's actually been a slow year for me, and some of my peers can write rings around that. It still more writing than some folks get to, and the year isn't over yet kiddies.
Bottom line is, some writing is better than no writing at all. There are things outside the writing part of my life I can't or won't ignore, and at times they get priority. If you love what you're doing, like I love writing, you'll steal the time somewhere else. There's a lot of things I'd love to be doing tonight besides writing about writing, but this is important. Somewhere, out there, amongst my readers, is someone who needs a wake up call with a boost of inspiration. You can't buy that at Starbucks, but you can get it here. If I can get even one book done in a year, you can sit down and write a page a day and do the same thing. Just think about that...
You just have to find a way to balance things out in your life. You know best where that has to be. I can't always keep the schedule I set for myself. I don't let that discourage me, I just make up for it somewhere else. You can do the same.
Write on,
~Nancy
First of all, I don't work outside the home, but I sure do work inside it. While I have given up a lot of other projects, I still have a big garden, and I have to at least make sure people get fed, dishes get done, and there is clean clothing to wear. Now and then, I take a layer off the dust, so that looks all freshly fallen again...
Knowing that weekends get chaotic around here, I spent most of last weekend blogging. I had just finished two deadline short story projects over the last several weeks, and then the first draft of a novel I've been picking away at since last October. Figuring I would be interrupted quite often, I put time into getting this blog set up. I got COMPANION DRAGONS TALES out of mothballs and refurbished, and then finally got something with pictures up on our hobby blog, IN MY "SPARE" TIME. Blogging is something I can easily leave and come back to later, if anything else pressing comes up, because it's not as dependent on that spur-of-the-moment muse input. As it turned out, other than a visit from family on Sunday and some 'in and out' folks while yard work was being done, I had most of the weekend to myself. It was still wisely spent time, as here on the blog, I can expound on whatever happens to be the topic-du-jour without hitting some sort of post length limit, or having what I write become lost in that carnival atmosphere of the social networking sites. It's hard to compete for attention span in between game requests, random status updates, and cute cat pictures with captions. Here, this is my show entirely.
So, since I have no budget for personal web space right now, blogging makes more sense than endlessly posting on Facebook, Twitter, or even G+. Oh sure, the social networking sites have their uses, because if you have an open public persona like I do, you can easily interact with readers and network with other writers and publishers. But to have the time and place to share more detailed ideas and info, you really need some web real estate of your own. Blogs are wonderful, because they are basically free sites where you can post all sorts of interesting things, and they're fairly simple to link together or with other sites online. When I put a new post here, I can tout it elsewhere. Win-win!
Writing time is a precious commodity, even in this all adult household. I used to have dreams of what being an empty-nester would be like, and they were not at all realistic. Life does get in the way at any age, and sometimes you just have to work around the interfering situation. Of course the more responsibilities you have, the more demands on your time, and you have to adjust the writing schedule accordingly. As long as you're clear on the fact that these are necessary things which must be dealt with, you're going to have to deal with them first and then squeeze writing time in wherever you can. But let's be honest—constant checking of Facebook and email, engaging in long-winded chats, or zoning out with online games are not interruptions. They are distractions. That's something you do to yourself to avoid sitting down to write. I've been guilty of a few of those too. It's a tough call sometimes, because I am a family person and I love my friends, and if someone wants to spend time with me, I'm likely to throw deadlines to the wind and go. So unlike all those articles that tell you '15 things published writers do right" I'm not going to preach to you. You're an adult, you should know where to draw the line. If you're always finding other things to do instead of writing, maybe you don't have the passion for this.
So how's the week been so far you ask?
Monday I was home alone with the dog, and had a bunch of vegetables that had to be dealt with. If you garden, that's going to happen. When I got done, it was late in the day, I was completely wiped out, and my back was nagging me relentlessly. The only writing I did was going over the final chapter of the book I just finished the first draft of. I was pleased that I got even that much done after such a long day. I was hoping to have the next day free to start from the top and begin my second pass.
Yeah, right. Murphy's Law always trumps in when you make other plans.
Tuesday I had to run out and help my mother renew her health benefits. That was a necessity, and it required picking her up, going over forms, and her appearing in person with me at her side to answer whatever she didn't understand. While we were out, I did some shopping, because half the day was blown anyway, and gas is far too expensive to make multiple trips. I live in the country, everything is at least a 15 minute drive away. By the time we got home, I was burned out once more. After briefly catching up online, my back, right hip, and knee were screaming they had taken all the abuse they could that day. So I took a nap. Writing under those circumstances is not going to amount to much.
Tuesday night I got a manuscript back from one of the writers I edit for. That kind of set me up for the rest of this week. Wednesday I spent the majority of at my PC, first working at the guest manuscript and then starting my second pass on my own novel. I did take breaks for things like doing dishes and straightening up, because I'm not wealthy enough to be able to afford a housekeeper. Besides I need the exercise. Writing is sedentary work. I got 1/4 of each done, and felt like that was a pretty enough.
Today—more veggies. The back is better, the hip and knee are still unhappy, but they have to be dealt with, because produce doesn't keep. When I took my quick race around the web before settling down to work, I decided this blog needed another post. What better to write about than how tough it is to work writing in between all those other things life tosses your way? So I spent about half an hour getting some ideas down, saved and closed out, with the intention of coming back to this later in the day. Things did not go as quickly as I hoped, so I decided not to linger too long elsewhere online this evening. After dinner and dishes, I sat down to finish this while the ballgame was on. I want tomorrow for more editing, so tonight I am putting in some overtime. An author site of any kind needs to be updated regularly to remain interesting.
Now weekends here get crazy, and they often start before Saturday, because we have ongoing renovations worked around everyone's work schedule (except mine—GRUMBLE).
Bottom line is, some writing is better than no writing at all. There are things outside the writing part of my life I can't or won't ignore, and at times they get priority. If you love what you're doing, like I love writing, you'll steal the time somewhere else. There's a lot of things I'd love to be doing tonight besides writing about writing, but this is important. Somewhere, out there, amongst my readers, is someone who needs a wake up call with a boost of inspiration. You can't buy that at Starbucks, but you can get it here. If I can get even one book done in a year, you can sit down and write a page a day and do the same thing. Just think about that...
You just have to find a way to balance things out in your life. You know best where that has to be. I can't always keep the schedule I set for myself. I don't let that discourage me, I just make up for it somewhere else. You can do the same.
Write on,
~Nancy
