Ok, not the Whovian style- I don’t think you can just sign up for
that. (Not that being a Time lord in that sense wouldn't be fun, I really do
want my own Tardis ;)).
But I’m talking about
becoming the Master (using it gender neutral here, folks) of your time.
As writers, we never seem to
have enough time. Some of us have evil day jobs (or even not so evil
ones), some have families, some both. Whatever the case, writing takes A
LOT of time, and there never seems to be enough to go around.
Recently, I started getting
up earlier (5am) which gives me two and a half hours to do all the usual
morning tasks and extras before I leave for EDJ (evil day job ;)). I’m a morning
person, so earlier is better, but it does take some getting used to to develop
the habit. I have noticed that I like getting things off my plate before work-
makes the start of the day less hectic and gets some stuff off the to do list.
Now, my first two of weeks
doing this, I wasn’t doing my writing. I would do blogs, other things
related to it, but not writing. For me this worked well since I first
needed to get back in the habit of 5 am –then get into writing before work.
But last week and this week,
I've been writing. Usually hitting 500 words a morning, I keep track of
my daily goal (1000 or more) on a spreadsheet where I can put in my current
word count at any point and see how many words I've done and how many to go for
my daily goal. It may be silly, but that little Excel sheet keeps me
moving (just 86 more words! Almost there!).
Getting up early seems to be
helping me control my time better. I don't have a choice about when I go
into my EDJ, but I do have control of the time around it. By building in
time to get something done early, I’ve freed my mind from worrying about my
evening goal. I still have one, but it’s
reduced and less scary ;).
Another thing I'm doing to get more out of my time, is trying only
to watch recorded TV shows and limit myself to two per night. I can easily slip into TV junkie land, so I
need to make sure I’m watching what I really want to watch and not just surfing
through re-runs. Besides, if they are recorded I can miss all the commercials ;).
I've also found that telling myself what I will be doing for the day/week and keep
reminding myself helps. I’ve found that if I
commit to myself, “Tonight, I’m making muffins for work”, or “Tonight, I’m getting in an extra 500 words”,
I’m more likely to finish the task. In my head it is a done deal, a reality. When
I plan things out more I suddenly seem to have more time, since I’m spending
less time puttering around thinking about what I should do ;).
Now that I’m on the TimeLord train, I’m looking for more ways to
save it and find it- please post your best time tricks!
Wish I had some time tricks for you. I'm a night person, so staying up late to get that writing done would work for me, but not for you. Actually, when I'm writing regularly, I also have a regular routine. I sit down at the computer, with a drink, coffee in the morning, tea at night, do one game of Free Cell to sort of clear my mind, a quick read through of what I last wrote, then I start writing. No surfing. No email checking. No Facebook. Just start writing where I left off. I don't go for words, I go for finished scenes. I don't think I could stop mid-sentence because I reached some predetermined number of words. I need to write until I've reached what I feel is a reasonable stopping point. If I don't, I worry I'll miss out on those words I was working toward. That clever plot twist, turn of phrase, or dazzling line of dialogue. You know the ones that you think of when you're nowhere near a computer and that won't come back to you when you are. The major thing is to put your butt in the chair in front of the keyboard and start typing.
ReplyDeleteLOL- very good points, Sharon! While I go for word counts, I rarely stop when I've hit them- especially if I'm on a roll. They're minimum counts ;).
DeleteThanks for coming by and commenting!
Thanks for sharing, Marie.
ReplyDeleteThe way I'm different from many writers in approaching my craft is I almost never think about my story when I'm away from the computer or doing something else on the computer. I had enough of flogging myself in my college and mathematics career.
I've also discovered that anything we produce on social media IS writing, just as is poetry. So blogging is definitely writing. Anytime we share our words, it becomes easier for us to do that.
Now about housework: I won't get any awards for that. But I have a housekeeper come in every other week and do the deep cleaning. At all other times, I keep trash cans and cleaning supplies in each room, so I can wipe down surfaces as I use them. I shop or cook once per week and keep the fridge stocked and my independent men (my husband and son) graze.
All of the above frees up my mornings (4am-12pm) to write, since I'm a morning person. At night, when I'm useless, I spend my time on Twitter collecting followers by getting punny and saying nice things about authors' writing voices.
I'm also a TV addict. Once one, always one. Right? So, like you, I watch prerecorded shows without commercials (Netflix for me) when I get stressed out in writing or editing and need a break.
After watching only broadcast channels (no cable) for years, that broke me of my TV surfing habit. Now I fall asleep to the TV.
What I wish for you, Marie, is that you can quit your "evil" day job and, in some way, reach out to us more like you do here.
Thanks for your blogging and now I need to get down to my "evil" day job: editing/polishing my WIP. I much prefer starting a new project, but like a horse on a racetrack, I need to hold myself back sometimes to finish what I started.
Susan (SBK Burns)
Thank you, Susan! I don't know if I could give up cable...but I'm doing better with only two shows a night- now if I can stick to it!
Deletethank you for coming by and commenting!
I'm a morning person, too. My problem is making myself go to bed early enough at night so that I can function in the early morning. I'm most efficient with my time if I have a plan for the next day either written down or in my head so I don't waste time thinking, okay, what do I do next? To-do lists work great for me and keep me more on schedule. And I get the satisfaction of checking things off when they're done.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya, Lori! I usually can get to bed early enough for the 5am wake up, but sometimes I just can't make it and am screwed up for days! I usually don't write my list down, but that might be a good idea!
DeleteThanks for coming by and commenting!
I definitely work better in the mornings...it's not always easy for me to manage so sometimes I do an evening before I go to sleep. I found that sitting down on a sunday evening and writing out the writing goal I want to accomplish really helps. It gives me focus.
ReplyDeleteI like that idea of Sunday evening planning, Echo. It might help me stay on track and keep moving!
DeleteThanks for coming by and commenting!