I'mabadbloggerandhavesadlyneglectedthisblogbutIhavemyreasonswithwhichIwillnotboreyoubut IwilldobetterIpromise ...
So, I'm still plugging away at this book. It, like this blog, has been sadly neglected these past few weeks. So, I'm wondering, how do you all write when you just don't have the time? And I don't mean no time as in "oh gee, I'd like to write but I have my nails to do, the fridge magnets to re-arrange, the cat's hair to plait" kind of no time. I'm talking about the really hard stuff, the days when you don't know how the heck you're going to come out the other end without going mad or forgetting something vitally important. Like picking your child up from soccer. Cough.
Do you get up at 3am and tap away while slugging down the caffeine? Write like a demon in the spare five minutes you find between those jobs on the "to do" list? Or, like Tess Gerritson, do you simply put the writing aside, do the other things that Must Be Done, and come back later?
Help a struggling (and frustrated!) gal out!
2 comments:
Actually, I've been known to do all three. I can never seem to find the willpower or stamina to write every day - unless inspiration is guiding the pen, near the beginning of a new wip - so I have to resort to tricks and tips and goal setting and self-bribery. I can't seem to write with DH around, though he can write perfectly well when I'm around. Yet for some reason I've got to be separate, so either I get up early, like this morning, and promise myself a latte if only I'll sit and write for an hour (I seem to manage about 1000 words an hour, long hand), or I ask him to make supper while I write :-) Goal setting works quite well, for me, since I get guilted into things. If I have no excuse for not writing beyond "well, I wanted to have coffee and read all of the New York Times" then I feel guilty enough that I can get up early, or stay up late, and get some words down. I still feel guilty about all the time I seem to waste in the evenings, reading the paper, lingering over supper, but I think that's pretty much self-imposed. I mean, I am knitting, reading, doing chores, playing with the cats, etc. during all that time. Just not writing as often as I could be. Maybe if I got my own laptop... :-)
Thanks for the tips, Deniz. Sounds like you have a good approach - lots of different methods of motivation to choose from, so you always have something that's guaranteed to make you work. And you know, I've come to think that having down time - playing with cats, knitting, whatever - is vital if the subconscious is ever going to work its magic. Just need some space for that to happen!
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