Monday: Write for 2 hours before doing housework.
Tuesday: Try to write for 2 hours before doing housework.
Wednesday: Finish cleaning what hasn't been done in two days before doing anything.
Thursday: Find the rest of the socks under the bed so that I can start working on another chapter.
Friday: Pick up rest of clothes... wait... where did my week go?
Does this sound familiar? It does to me... actually, my days normal are nowhere NEAR that simple. Finding time to write along with the daily routine is one of the hardest things for me to do. Between three wonderful daughters, a husband, 2 dogs, 2 cats, chickens, fish, goats, etc... PLUS all the housework (that no one in the house is capable of helping with), it can be difficult to sit down and actually work on the elusive WIP. You know the one. The Work In Progress. The one that has been sitting in your notebook by your pillow. The one that has been hidden in the portable drive so that JUST IN CASE the pc crashes, all your work won't be lost. (That last one is my personal paranoia) So how DO you find time to write? Between all the stuff that we have to do in life, how do we make time to write, to pour our very souls into something that people will not only love, but crave to buy?
Determination. Coffee. Time management. Did I mention coffee yet? Or caffeine? Seriously, determination and time management (and caffeine) are really the keys to getting it done. Everyone has their own ways of writing. Some write every other day, some write whenever the creative mood hits them and others manage to be superhuman and write everyday.. 50 pages of perfection that make you want to laugh or cry and hug them tightly. (I'm still waiting to figure out how they do that one.) Regardless, time management is key. Without it, (and lists.. I am such a LIST person!) we would not know what to do with ourselves. Look at your schedules. Try to fit in a time frame that you will be sitting down, in front of what ever you use to write and actually WRITE. It might be just a word, it might be 20 pages, but at least you sat down to do it. And that is where the determination comes in. Nobody can make you do it. If you want to write that elusive story that keeps you up at night, that haunts your dreams, you have to make yourself sit down and write it down. Word by word. Until you finally have it finished. No amount of family, friends or wishing will make it happen without your determination to make it a reality.
So, what are you determined to do? I am determined to finish writing my other books. I am determined to make them better stories that show the true talent and ability of what I know I am capable of. How about you? Will you join me?
Your post reminds me of my own life so much! Keeping up with everything is a lot at times... Since I'm home, I can't ignore the stuff that needs to be done even though I'm working. It's a delicate situation as a writer.
ReplyDeleteI hate coffee (unbelievable as a writer right?), so I have to trudge on without that aid. After a while, hectic becomes normal, and you just work when you can, and enjoy the ride along the way.
Working at night seems to work best for me, less demands at that time. Still never easy though.
I can understand not liking the coffee( I am trying to cut back and drink water instead. I'm down to only 2 cups in the morning now instead of all day. YAY! lol) I am home also so it's very hard to ignore everything but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks hectic is normal! lol Thanks for posting Benjamin!
ReplyDeleteI try not to be a lists person because I'm always on call for my first job online. So when it comes to writing, cleaning, working out, kids, etc. etc. I have a tendency to do it when it needs to be done. Now . . . today's mission? Get my kids motivated enough to clean up the giant mess they made in the basement. And do laundry. Arg.
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