The rest of us still have kids at home. Or full-time jobs. Or both.
Strategies. We all need strategies for maximizing our writing time. Or FINDING writing time amidst juggling all the other responsibilities that come with kids, jobs, husbands, homes.... lives.
I find that life gets in the way a lot. When I first decided to write, I had small children at home and wrote while they were at school. I'd set aside time for that amidst laundry and vacuuming and the rest of the chores mommies tend to do in those golden seven hours between when the bus picks up and the bus brings them back home again.
As the kids got older, volunteering and bake sales and soccer games and after school activities took up so much time all the way through high school, and of course the three kids went in three separate directions - but in retrospect, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Kids are only young once. You only get to be such a big part of their lives for such a short amount of time.
So now I have 2 in college, one still in high school, and a full-time job to help pay the ridiculous cost of tuition. And I'm still writing. Struggling to juggle the writing, the work, and the volunteering.
And slipping in my deadlines.
I have to admit, sometimes after a frustrating day, that glass of wine paired with reading someone else's book sounds a whole lot more relaxing than diving into character struggles with my own noncompliant heroines.
So tell me. What's your best strategy for carving out writing time? I'm sure i'm not the only one struggling with a deadline. And we could all use a new strategy to switch it up now and again.
There are no magic bullets, we all know that. But sometimes a little fresh inspiration goes a long way.
Happy Writing to All!
I'll start off the comment with a brand new tip that I've decided to embrace - Outsourcing!
ReplyDeleteJust this week I hired Abigail at Authors on a Dime to help me put together promo memes and do formatting for me, because if I wait to figure it out myself it'll never get done! It's a huge relief and frees up that part of me that didn't want to move forward with something new because of the backlog of stuff already on my plate.
You are definitely NOT the only one who struggles with this. I have one child in college and one in high school and a million things to do still, even if they aren't young enough to need me every second. My imperfect strategy is to do my best to stick to a schedule. I have my morning routine with social media, my errands/stuff around the house, my writing and other blocks I carve out during the day. As much as possible, I try to stick to them. It doesn't always work, but I do my best. Participating in writing challenges also helps me with the discipline of sitting down to write or edit even when I don't want to.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea - except NaNoWriMo comes at probably the worst time of year with holidays and school breaks and Christmas shopping... I've participated a few times, and only finished once. I need a different challenge...
DeleteSomething always seems to get in the way of writing, whether it's work, family, or the latest best seller. What works for me is getting up early (4:30 or so). My mind is fresh at that time, the house is quiet, and the start of he day seems hours away.
ReplyDeleteI've done that a few times - I actually awoke at 4 am the other day brimming with dialogue ideas for a scene I was struggling with. I'm not sure I can sustain that on a regular basis though.
DeleteKatie, outsourcing is a great idea. My children are grown and I'm retired from teaching, so I have no excuse NOT to write. Yet carving out writing time is still a struggle. Deadlines keep me honest.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, writing challenges work for me, too. If I commit, then I feel guilty if I don't participate.
Can't wait for more suggestions.
Deadlines work for me too. Although self-imposed ones, not so much.
DeleteI definitely have to do the outsourcing thing; like you, I don't have time to figure out a lot of things on my own. I'd love to do more of it at home by outsourcing cleaning to free up more time for writing. Not that my house is spotless by any stretch! One thing I have outsourced is cooking. Since my husband retired, he's taken over most of that, along with grocery shopping. It really helps.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome - I'm lucky in that my husband already likes to cook and grocery shop (not all the time) but he also travels an awful lot during the week. I can't tell you the last time he ever made it to a back-to-school night! But I'm not allowed to dream of housekeepers until college tuition is in the rearview mirror...
DeleteOkay, so I'm one on of those pain in the a** writers who get to write full time. BUT when I did work full time, I still wrote for non-fiction magazines and trade journals and had to juggled work, family, etc with that. I kind of echo CB a little - when I had something due, I loved being the only one up in the house early. Now, when menopause insomnia hit that wasn't such a problem! But before it I did get up an hour earlier each day, made a cup of tea and sat down and either free-wrote or finished a magazine piece. If you're a night owl, staying up an hour later than everyone else could do the same thing. Any way you can fit in 10-15 minutes per day is 10-15 minutes MORE than you would have had, right?
ReplyDeletePeggy, I envy you. I so wish I could pick up and write 15 minutes here and 15 minutes there. It takes me that long to get my head back into the story. Maybe I could try it with editing. To keep it from being tedious and maybe give me a fresh look. Hmmm. :)
DeleteSandra, I'm with you in that I usually need to go back through and read a bit to get back into the character mindset. So 15 minutes generally isn't enough time to get anything accomplished.
DeleteAnd Peggy, you're never a pain in the a$$. I may be jealous of where you are in your career, but you've worked hard to get there and are an inspiration to the rest of us. Keep writing!
I agree with those who suggest getting up earlier or staying up later. I also like to leave my wip at a "hot spot" to make it easy to pick up again so if I only have an hour I can jump right back in. That being said my my nonwriter life and obligations can overwhelm me at times but I try to use those times as fodder for stories. 😬
ReplyDeletefodder for stories is right, lol!
DeleteI've also taken to leaving my WIP open on the computer - although I'm careful to hit save as frequently as possible as well as minimize it. But it seems easier somehow if I can just click it open without having to go through folders and whatnot to get it open. One click and I'm right back at the page where I left off.
Nice post. I think we all struggle with "finding time." Like Charlotte, I often stay up later to squeeze in some writing time. I've also learned not to take everything so seriously. We should also be enjoying our families and the world around us. I think we need to rid ourselves of the quilt when life get in our writing routine.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Judy for the thoughtful reminder about priorities. Family and life should always come first. I remember being a new mom and worrying about cleaning the house, and a friend gave me a poem about how the dust bunnies will always be there but babies grow up pretty darn fast. The same can be said of our manuscripts - words can wait, but life only happens once.
DeleteGreat dialogue--as usual. One thing that helps me stay focused on my writing/editing, etc. is to use the Freedom App. It disables the internet for however long you choose. So, if I pick 1 hour, some little spark in my brain recognizes it is writing time. Period. I get so much done when I'm not tempted to click over to social media every 20 minutes. It makes the time I do have more efficient. I teach yoga, with a combination of privates and public classes so, my schedule varies day to day. I write down the writing time in my calendar and make myself (most of the time) plop my butt in the chair and do it. I've also just had to tell my husband to go away for a while. :) Sometimes sitting down and looking at your week on the planner/calendar helps. Can you switch around errands? Can you block things off to certain times to free up longer writing periods? Can you delegate anything? Sometimes a small shift makes a big difference. (Claire Marti)
ReplyDeleteClaire, these are great tips. I'm totally guilty of clicking onto Facebook when I get frustrated with something in my WIP... and then suddenly it's 15 minutes later and I've gotten no writing done. Adding writing to my written calendar would probably help me schedule it in as well (i'm a very list-oriented person!)
Delete