And that's the perfect segue to my topic: how do you schedule your time so that you can write? No seriously, what do you do, cause I'm awful at trying to schedule mine. I mean, I like my sleep and don't really feel like I can give up an hour to get myself to write for an hour after I wake up and before I start my day. That is, however, what Robison Wells did. If I recall, he would wake up at 3 or 4 in the morning and write and then go to work when that time arose. Sadly, Rob is without work at the moment, but still, his example is one of sheer dedication. And because I think Rob's awesome, here's a reminder that Feedback will be out soon. If you haven't read Variant, you're totally missing out! Seriously, one of the best YA books I've read.
Sometimes I wish I was the stay-at-home dad. I read about many writer moms who work on their WIPS while their kids are at school. I mean, it's amazing how many moms complain about the summer because they suddenly have taken up a new job in babysitting for a few months. (At first I thought they were whiners, but oh wow, are they right!) There are even some that have the awesome willpower to get off the internet. Then there's me:
And now let's look at the authors that get together and write. I know that Authors Incognito tries to do a writers retreat the first week of November, in conjunction with NaNoWriMo. (FYI, people, the beginning of EVERY month is off limits for me to take time off as my job in accounting requires me to perform my monthly financials within the same time period.) Of course, I never understand how they get work done. Like these four ladies:
Individually, the authors of the Newport Ladies Book Club novels seem to be well-disciplined in their schedules to find time to write. Even better, since their books have to complement each other perfectly or they'll hurt the audiences belief, they find time to sit in one room and hash out details. I'm sorry, but how the (expletive of your choice) do these four get any work done? Seriously, I follow all 4 of them on Twitter and I know that most the time, their phones are on. So if I find out they're together writing, I'm gonna be the good gentlemen that I am and send out a tweet tagging all four of them so they all get a text message. Hey, I gotta keep myself entertained vicariously cause I'm obviously not writing enough.
Okay, so enough of my jealousy. You know what motivates me? Besides chocolate. And no, not bacon. My critique group. We have lovingly come up with the acronym CRAP and refer to ourselves as CRAPpy authors. No, we do not believe we suck, we just love being able to use such a negative word. But guess what, we have a meeting next week. And I do not have a chapter ready for the group. So...I'm going to take time today to get a chapter ready if it kills me, and it just might.
Alien abductions are involuntary, but probings are scheduled.
4 comments:
Honestly, I don't know how people who work full time or have lots of young children at home find any time to write.
Life is a hard balance and I think as writers we need to seriously consider the allotment of time and priorities. Writing and getting published is awesome and exciting, but it's not the most important thing in my life. I really believe there is a time and season for everything.
That being said, I think even a small bit of time, set aside and used regularly and effectively, adds up quickly and you can still get a lot of good writing done.
I agree with Julie. There's a time and place for everything. Bit if you really want to write, you can make the time for it. Even a little tiny bit.
What does the acronym stand for?
Yeah, you don't find time to write; you make time to write. Even if it's only 15 minutes a day.
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