While I dream of running away and joining a writer’s convent where someone brings me meals and I sit in my room all day long wrestling with my muse, this is not going to happen.
People used to ask me, How do you find the time to write with 6 children and all the volunteer work you do on art’s management committees? And I used to jokingly say it was the writing that kept me sane. (This was true, that was why it was a joke).
Now days I am struggling to get near my computer to write. You’ll all identify with the position I’m in – five kids at home, renovating the house, working part time (except for weeks like last week when I do 12 hour days to get through the marking) and trying to complete three books to hand in to my publisher early next year.
This morning I sat down at the computer to get stuck into a scene I’ve been having trouble with and I struggled with it.
For one thing the computer room is half dismantled because we’ll be tiling it in a few weeks and we have to move everything out. So there are boxes everywhere and I have to pick my way through them to get to the desk. (I hate working in the middle of a mess. Mess makes me twitchy).
Then, because it was the first time I’d been home all week, everyone came to me. They wanted to show me assignments and ask me questions. (Yes, I love my family but … I couldn’t get any steam up because I was constantly interrupted.
The other thing was I felt utterly flat. The marking I’ve been doing is very challenging (analysing storyboards and explaining why shots and camera movements did or didn’t work and making suggestions to improve them), so I was mentally drained. My creative well was dry, and I became frustrated with myself because I couldn’t just switch it on at will.
Here are a couple posts I’ve done in the past about creativity. Feeding your creative crucible and Creativity, can it be harnessed? In the end I went out and attacked the weeds in the garden because I had to do something. (And the garden desperately needed weeding. Not only am I a bad mother, I’m a bad gardener!).
The other thing I’ve noticed is that when ever I get to rocky patch with the current book, I’ll slip onto Twitter or I roam the blogs and download my emails. All of which is fun, but it doesn’t get the book written. So I’ve set up a screen and an old computer in my bedroom and I’m going to work there (where there’s no internet). I won’t be tempted to go surfing the web and there’s the added bonus that my bedroom is up stairs and at the far end of the house, so people will have to Really want to talk to me if they want to interrupt me. So, set aside a place that is going to be your writing place and remove temptations such as surfing the internet (and writing blog posts like this one).
Douglas Adams used to say that he loved deadlines. He loved the sound they made as the whooshed by. I’m one of those people who sets themselves deadlines then works like crazy to meet them. (It’s the inner obsessive compulsive in me). So I’m going to set myself a goal because I simply Must meet my deadline. 50 pages cleaned up and edited every week, (except the weeks when I have to do 12 hour days to get through the marking).
I should be able to meet that goal. There’s no point in setting a goal that’s too difficult. You’ll give up before you start. I find that with first draft, if I set myself the goal of four pages of new story a day (that’s 1000 words) the book just grows and grows. There will be days when 4 pages is a challenge and there will be days when I do 20 pages easy. So, if you’re going to set yourself goals make them small and achievable.
Here is a collection of articles on Time Management for Writers. As you can see I’ve already done a couple of the things they suggest.
If you are serious about learning the craft of writing, then you simply must give yourself the time and the room to grow as a writer. You need to be able to experiment and write that weird story that keeps bothering you. An important part of learning is Play and being able to make mistakes. It’s very freeing to give yourself permission to experiment and attempt new things. So there is the craft of writing and then there is the business of writing. Here is where Holly Lisle answers your questions about the business of writing. Which brings me back to my trilogy and trying to meet a deadline.
There, I’ve admitted I am struggling to get my trilogy cleaned up. The first step is to admit you have problem.
How are you going with your writing? Do you get diverted by Twitter and blogs? Do you get interrupted constantly by children? Are you burnt out from creatively draining paid work?
Do you have any suggestions you could share with me? Really, I’d love to hear how you keep the creative fire alight and get your stories written.
I hear you. After a week of finishing marking, pulling extra shifts at my other job, and few other things. I hit a wall this week. Next week should be better (well, with some approaching deadlines it HAS to be). But I deal with it by not letting myself get to depressed if I have a bad week. I’ve had plenty of them in my life, and I know the good weeks come around again. If you let them worry you too much, panic can settle in, and bad week can become a bad month.
Life is ups and downs and none of us are machines. Expecting yourself to be a “word machine” through all those ups and downs, rather than a writer, can bleed the pleasure out of it, I reckon. Forgiving myself for not being perfect is the way I cope.
I can accept that I’m not perfect. I’m just starting to see a pattern.
People have been sick at work and, like you, I’ve done extra shifts. Sure, I can use the money, but I can’t get back to the writing. If all I was doing was working, renovating the house and looking after a family of five, it would be easy!
Back from my day job! Totally understand what you mean. Sometimes life just gets unbalanced.
It would be easy (though you’ve made me tired looking at that list!) if that was what you were doing! But what good ever comes out of easy
Says the guy who doesn’t have kids and isn’t renovating his house!
But what good ever comes out of easy
Says the guy who doesn’t have kids and isn’t renovating his house!
LOL, Trent. I’d tackle the whole repainting of the internal rooms of the house, if I wasn’t trying to get the books ready to deliver.
I know this doesn’t make anything easier, but you, Marianne, Tansy, Maxine, Dirk, Richard and Margo are inspirations to me, because you manage to get things done WITH KIDS (Which makes them sound horrible, and that’s not what I mean, we fully expected to be in the same situation by now, but that’s another story all together). There’s not a day goes by where I don’t think you’re all fabulous.
I’ve first pages to complete in a week or so, and a draft of an entirely different book by Jan. I don’t know how I’d manage with kids. I hope you realise how remarkable you are (and that that doesn’t come off as sounding patronising, because I don’t mean it that way, I think you all rock).
A new book by January, Trent? Gahhhh.
That’s the other thing. I want to write another KRK trilogy and, with the level of plotting I do it would take a couple of years normally. But now with my workload I don’t know how to estimate.
I force myself to take a day off once a week – no writing, no paid work, and nothing that I don’t genuinely enjoy (eg seeing friends). That always makes me want to write.
Louise Curtis
Love to do that. Louise. For me writing is the one thing I want to do, just for me. A whole day spent writing would be heaven!
For me, writing is the diversion. The problem is, it’s too diverting! The busier I get in other aspects of life, the more ideas I get for my writing. I dread taking time out of ‘life’ to try and write, because I just know that without outside stimulus, my ideas bank will go broke.
Good point, Chris. Writers do need the stimulus of life to mine for ideas.
I think I need a little less stimulus! LOL
” The busier I get in other aspects of life, the more ideas I get for my writing.”
Don’t you mean, “the further I get into my project which is not as perfect in my head as it was when I started writing it, the more ideas I get for other projects which seem way more exciting?”
Ha ha
I agree with you, I always had more ideas when I worked outside the home.
But now that I’m home with a box full of ideas and not enough completed work…at least I have the luxury of no real writing deadlines. I can sign up for NaNo and then if I fail, well, I’ve still got a novella (as Simon Petrie pointed out on his blog). Whereas I think Trent might get in trouble if he handed in a 22k word novel come January
Thoraiya
Thoraiya,
I know what you mean. While I was only looking after 6 kids and volunteering, I had the luxury of working at my own pace on books etc. Of course I was writing them on spec without a contract most of the time and this was frustrating.
Now I have the book contract and not time. Gahhhh.
Don’t make me panic, Thoraiya!
The books finished, I’m just cleaning it up, and building things – thank goodness.
I must admit, I’m jealous of those who take time out to just write. I’m a single dad trying to hold down a job here in Australia that I really should be doing overseas, but I’m here because I want my daughter to get a good high school education in Oz. I’ve been back here since May and have only just found a house to move into. I know if I was really brave I could ditch my job and just give myself over to getting a big writing project underway, but it wouldn’t pay my bills for a while (if ever).
So I keep working. I’m currently writing a prospectus for a company that will list on the ASX next year based on the work I did for them in Botswana last year. It’s a hell of a job. And it has a deadline. And I don’t know if I’ll make it. Finding time for creative writing is so hard. Spending the time on creative writing is difficult to justify financially.
Chris, I really do understand where you are coming from. Your daughter is lucky to have you for a father!
Hi Rowena – Awesome post and really, really useful hints and tips. I agree with a lot Trent has to say as well – you are all amazing (including you, Trent) I really don’t know how you all manage with kids as I struggle with the day job, domestics, a partner and NO kids! I really get what you were saying Rowena about if it was just the day job and the family it would be easy – it would certainly feel easier. It really is working two jobs plus all the family responsibility – little wonder we get so tired and feel drained! Oh to quit the day job that pays the bills. I strive to be a FT writer – just like you guyz – let’s hope it happens for us all soon.
And as for renovating on top of it all – I take my hat off to you – because that would totally do my head in!
As Trent said – you all rock! And I do luv the pic of the blue keyed typewriter
Michele, every time we have a ROR (meet in person to crit out current WIPs) we do our goals.
One them for all of us, is to make enough money from writing to quit our day jobs and concentrate on writing full time.
So none of us are there yet!
Yes, I thought the blue keyed typewriter was lovely. Thanks for noticing.
Oh, yeah I know, Rowena. My point exactly of why you guyz all rock! You do the day job and everything I’m complaining about with kids! I seriously don’t know how you all do it – I feel inadequate…but I’m working on becoming more proficient at juggling. I’m a great multi-tasker but…leaning towards a bit of procrastination these days something I was never ever guilty of in my earlier years…now where was I? Oh yeah, getting ready for the day job and must get that blog done