I’m going to
do some serious writing once I have the time.
First I need to sort out the house and the children and catch up at
work. Oh and see my friends and walk the
dogs. And…
Which makes
me realise that if I wait until I have time to write, I’ll never do it. I need to write now, whether I have time or
not. You know what they say about asking
a busy person if you want something done?
Maybe that’s the way to look at this.
The busier you are, the more chance you’ll write!
But this
writing isn’t just going to happen. What
I’ve realised is that you also need discipline.
 |
| Glimpse of secret garden - a prompt for my current novel |
I’ve had advice from a few writers in the past:
·
Get up an hour earlier and write then, it’s the
only way
·
Take a few pages of edits to work with you and
do them in your coffee or lunch break
·
As soon as the evening meal is over, shut
yourself away. This is your writing time
·
Make a special place for writing, knowing that
when you’re there you’ll write
·
Don’t make a special place for writing. Have your laptop or notebook with you at all
times and use it in those snatched minutes where you aren’t doing anything else
·
Use prompts to inspire you, pictures of settings
or people
·
Write from within, the stories are there, you
just need to let them out.
What these
made me think was a) I don’t have the energy! And b) aren’t they a bit contradictory?
Leaving the
energy thing aside, I’ve decided that the contradictoriness of the advice a
kind of advice in itself. Some things
work for one person, some for another.
What you need to do is find the thing that works for you.
And as I’ve
said before (and I need to listen to myself):
If you’re a writer, write.
How do other
people organise their time?
Oh, Gill, I can hear myself! I know how difficult it is to claw back writing time from all the other committments in life. I do think there are times when it's simply not possible because of the other stuff we have to deal with.
ReplyDeleteI signed up for an online series of life writing workshops at the Edinburgh ebook Festival and that has been brilliant because I feel compelled to do the 'homework' each day and somehow have found the time to do it. Looking back over the week I realise I've written over 2,000 words - not all on one project, but it's a start. Bit worried about what I'll do when it's finished.
2000 words is great! Hopefully now you've got into the routine you'll continue even after the course has finished.
DeleteI'm having trouble with distractions as well - it's so easy to think you're just going to put on the washing or check one more email or ... and no writing gets done. I think you just have to be tough on yourself and say 'enough, write now!' And once you're into the story, you won't want to stop :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. Yes, you do have to be tough with yourself. Not always easy...
DeleteI think we all empathize on this one, Gill. I could write lots more if I was just scribbling about things I see or overhear or think about, it's trying to get from 80,000 to 100,000 that I find really difficult. You have to read yourself back into it, make sure you are picking up all those loose threads and tieing them off satisfactorily - and you just can't do that in the odd half hour.
ReplyDeleteWhich is why I'm really looking forward to my forthcoming trip to Cliff Cottage! A week to settle into my story with no big distraction. Bliss!
I'm so glad you agree you can't do this in the odd half hour. I find that impossible too!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy Cliff Cottage.
The perrenial question for writers, eh? I find a deadline organises my time better than anything else....and I have one looming, so....thanks for the post, go to go....:)
ReplyDelete