New here, what is your writing schedule?

Southern_girl29 · Aug 16, 2006

Hi everyone, I just found this site while doing some research and decided to join.

I'm currently the Lifestyles Editor at a small newspaper in Tennessee. I have completed one novella and one full-length novel. I took a break from fiction writing when I became pregnant with my three-year-old, and since then, I've had trouble getting back into a schedule.

I have an idea for a second novel and would love to start on it, but finding time to write is awful. By the time my daughter goes to bed, I am tired, and it's hard to write. And, I'm not a morning person, so early mornings are out of the question.

I miss writing fiction, and my new idea is bugging me to get out on paper. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

J. Weiland · Aug 16, 2006

Welcome to the forum.

I guess you must have a lunch break and several coffeebreaks at work. How much time does that add up to in a day?

If you are in the zone, you can get a lot written in just an hour.

-----------------------------
If I ruled the world...:
actors would not get book deals.

Just tell me where to vote for you

CaroGirl · Aug 16, 2006

A schedule? I'm supposed to have a schedule? Maybe that's what I'm doing wrong.

I also have a job and a couple of kids. I, too, find I'm exhausted by the end of the day and unable to write. Rather than a schedule, I grab whatever time I have through the day during the week, and I enlist the help of my husband to get a few hours each day on the weekends. It's tough to write a novel this way, but we have to take what we can get.

Good luck and welcome.

Pat~ · Aug 16, 2006

Welcome to the forum, Southern girl, from another one!

Once upon a time I had no children and I had a schedule, but I've been waiting to 'get back on it' now for about 18 years. I often write in the morning, because that's when I'm freshest, and the house is quiet. It's also at the start of my 'schedule' (which has a way of disintegrating as the day goes on.) I just wake up an hour or 2 earlier than everybody else. It's actually pretty neat once you get used to it.

Novelhistorian · Aug 16, 2006

Welcome to the club, Southern Girl 29. I too just joined. Know what you mean about the kids; I'm an at-home dad. I'm lucky that they're both old enough to be involved in activities outside the house during the day (camps, school, and so forth), but I remember the days when my six-year-old was five months and never napped. Never slept at night, either. I wound up hiring babysitters during the day, just for an hour or two of respite. If that's financially possible for you, hop now while summer's still here and get a high schooler or two to help you. Maybe they'll want to continue come fall. Good luck, but whatever you do, don't give up. Even if it's just to write in a journal for ten minutes here and there.

Akuma · Aug 16, 2006

I've been doing 1pm to 6pm but my summer vacation ends tomorrow so it'll be back to the two hour schedule for me.

Siddow · Aug 16, 2006

One kid? I've got four. Only one is in school yet, the rest are wee little ones. You're just going to have to steal moments through the day, and evolve into a morning (or night) person. I'm too exhausted at the end of the day to be coherent, so I've become the morning writer. My mind is fresh then.

If you want it bad enough, you'll find a way. Just realize that what works this week is not likely to work forever; you need to adjust to your family but there is no reason why Mommy can't have a half hour or an hour to take care of herself. Plunk your daughter down beside you and give her something to do. Crayons and paper, a Leaptop of her own, something where you can be together but she understands that she needs to occupy herself. It absolutely works better if you don't lock yourself behind a door when there's little ones in the house. Reward her for playing quietly while you work. "Mommy needs to work now. If you'll play quietly here with this, then when I finish we'll play a game together," or read a story, or play dress-up, or whatever your daughter's currency is. Thirty minutes for Mommy, thirty minutes for baby...I've written several novels that way.

Good luck!

Jamesaritchie · Aug 16, 2006

Schedule

I've kept roughly the same schedul for many years, which is five hours per day, broken into two sessions.

But there isn't any trick to writing time. You just have to make the time, and then use it, whatever your circumstances. I'm not a morning person, either, but if that's the only time available, then that's the time you use.

I've written with small kids underfoot, and it isn't easy, but what is?

jbal · Aug 16, 2006

I heard some writer talk about finding time to write, and I'll paraphrase: "If there's one thing we all have it's time, twenty-four hours of it every day."
I have a two year old and a full time job, and a pregnant wife. I have to wait until boith my son and my wife are asleep (11:30 or thereabouts). But I still get in an hour or so a day.

Mayor of Moronia · Aug 16, 2006

I'm a man of few talents and fewer remarkable qualities but I have a genius for packing a whole lot of living into very little time....I went to college full-time for 8 years and worked 2 full-time jobs with 4 children and managed to graduate with a 3.65 GPA. I've read 3 books every week since I was 8 years old. If I can do it anyone can.

The trick is: People waste huge amounts of time and dont even know it. People have potential they dont dream exists.

True story. Milton H. Erickson, MD, a psychiatrist, crippled with polio, earned (get this) his B.A., M.A., and M.D. degrees simultaneously with 4.0 GPA for all work attempted. No scholarships. Poor farm boy from Wisconsin. Erickson said that people have huge amounts of fallow potential. You can Google Erickson and read all about his story.

Mayor of Moronia · Aug 16, 2006

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_H._Erickson

Southern_girl29 · Aug 16, 2006

Thanks for the welcome everyone. Over the past several years, I had so many things to do that I couldn't find the time. My DH was on the road more nights than he was home (he was a truck driver), so I was a single parent during the week. I ran an online store until the profits went away. I made all the merchandise that was sold. And, I worked full time. I tried to squeeze in time to write, but it wasn't happening.

Now, DH is home. He's been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and can't drive a truck anymore. I've been having to deal with his ups and downs and more for the past year and a half.

But, now, he's getting better, I closed my online store, and I want to get back to writing. I also want to find an agent for my work, which I am also going over again for the first time in about six months. It seems I can always find things to fix.

I guess what I'm really wondering is how to fit in writing, querying agents, editing the old stuff and more. Thanks again for the warm welcome.

TwentyFour · Aug 16, 2006

Southern Girl, I'm in Virginia and stay at home with my son. He's now in school and I'm having surgery on tuesday (nothing too big, its in office) so I wanted to let you know my schedule.

I only use words for a schedule, its much easier! I write between 500, to 1000, to 1500, and just yesterday I nearly got 1800! I write in spurts, usually after my son went is off to school or at night around 8-10 pm.

For months I did not write, left my novel in a file on the computer, now I'm back and blazing with nearly 45,000 words so far! It's great to be back into it, even if my writing is on first draft (with this version anyway...) and it seems to suck at the moment. LOL! I am lucky to not have to work right now...so I have much more time to be creative.

expatbrat · Aug 16, 2006

I use to write more - then I discovered absolute write and have become a fantastic procrastinator.

Welcome to AW!

Becky Writes · Aug 16, 2006

I have 4 kids, too, and obviously they take up a lot of my time. I have my WP program all day long and I try to squeeze in a word or two every chance I get. All of the kids are in bed by 8pm and that's when I really get to work. I usually write (or sit in front of the computer with intentions of writing) until about midnight.

The weekends are for the hubby and kids, so I don't do much then.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 16, 2006

time

Southern_girl29 said:
Thanks for the welcome everyone. Over the past several years, I had so many things to do that I couldn't find the time. My DH was on the road more nights than he was home (he was a truck driver), so I was a single parent during the week. I ran an online store until the profits went away. I made all the merchandise that was sold. And, I worked full time. I tried to squeeze in time to write, but it wasn't happening.

Now, DH is home. He's been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and can't drive a truck anymore. I've been having to deal with his ups and downs and more for the past year and a half.

But, now, he's getting better, I closed my online store, and I want to get back to writing. I also want to find an agent for my work, which I am also going over again for the first time in about six months. It seems I can always find things to fix.

I guess what I'm really wondering is how to fit in writing, querying agents, editing the old stuff and more. Thanks again for the warm welcome.

The one thing I'd say you can't do is squeeze in time to wirte. Writng is either a priority or it isn't. Sometimes you have to drop something else. If there's time to be online, there's time to write. If there's time to run an online store, there's time to write. And, of course, if there's time to watch TV, chat on the phone or on a forum, there's time to write.

You don't fit writing time in, or querying time in. You have to make this priority time, and you fit in anything else that needs doing.

You make the time to write, and squeeze in anything that isn't writing related.

earthshoes · Aug 16, 2006

You can't buy time--or I would have.

No one gives it to you (believe me, it was on my Dear Santa list for years, before I gave up and asked my husband to take the kids to the park instead)--you take possession of it and ignore those who complain or criticize (rather have a finished book than a clean house, rather spend time with my kids than dust etc).

It doesn't come in the mail either (Once I got all excited about a card that said "Free minutes". Unforunately I had to use them on the phone . . . ).

Or replicate itself (I put an hour in a jar, fertilized it and waited for months and months. When I came back to it all that was left was moldy fertilizer). If it's important to you, you make it yourself.

In truth, you may have to start small. When my boys were young--I wrote poetry because it was easy to fit in around naps, nursing, diaper-changing and housework. The result of this was more attention to sound and rhythm and an improved grasp of language and image. As they got older, I turned to short stories and so on.

This is a matter of what's important to you. Ignore the dust, use your answering machine the way God intended, hire a sitter or trade off with a friend, lean on your mate to help, get up early or go to bed late.

Best of luck to you
earthshoes

NightWynde · Aug 16, 2006

I have a friend of mine who is a single Mom as well as a nurse. She never knows where her job will take her or how long her hours will be since she works through a temp agency. To compensate, she purchased a tape recorder and just tells her stories into it while she's travelling to and from work. When she finds time, even with a five year old underfoot, she transcribes these tapes onto the computer.

Another thing you might try is to realize that it may be true, you just can not write every single day. When my boys were in their toddler years (they're just under 2 years apart, and neither one of them nappers) the only time I had that was truly my own was when I put them to bed and I fell asleep exhausted. On the weekends, my husband would take them out of the house for a couple of hours on Saturday and another couple of hours on Sunday so I could get some peace and quiet. I may not have produced much in those years, but I still wrote every Saturday and Sunday without fail.

I know some people say that they can write when their kids are in the room or to grab a few moments if that's all you can do. I'm glad it works for them, and dang it, I'm envious of this fact but for me, I just need a houseful of peace and quiet and at least half an hour of it before I can "warm up."

In other words, do what you can, when you can, and in a way that works for you.

PS. Welcome to the boards.

bylinebree · Aug 16, 2006

Welcome, Southern_girl! You've accomplished (and are accomplishing) alot!

Been there with four kids and a seemingly impossible schedule--and lack of energy, too. But once the creative flow starts, it energizes me.

What works for me is to arrange a large block of time just for writing, esp. on the weekend. I arrange for kids and everything else to be taken care of by spouse, friends or whoever -- and I LEAVE. Or I arrange for THEM to all leave (much more rare)

See if a friend can take your child for a whole Saturday or another day, or a grand parent if you have such a rare creature as that. Allow yourself to let others nurture and love your child, and give yourself a creative break when you need it.

It's OK to rearrange your life a bit for this. Let the housework wait. Your child and spouse can actually survive without you for at least a day, once in a while.

MyFirstMystery · Aug 17, 2006

Hello all,

Interesting question - thanks for asking it! As an on-again off-again writer with several "half novels" under my belt, I've struggled a great deal with my writing schedule. I found that a rigid schedule just didn't suit me, if I said 1000 words a day or 1 hour a day it felt like work and that was the kiss of death. If I left it up to chance months could go by without much progress.

A while ago I decided that I needed to figure out once and for all if I have what it takes to be a writer, not just talk about it, and so I set the goal of finishing a complete first draft by October 31st. I set an approximate estimate of writing four days a week for about 1500 words a day, which would get me to my rough goal of 75000 for my mystery. And I decided to focus one day at a time, rather than get snippy with myself.

I find that this approach works well for me, but it was a long series of trial and error. Most weeks I exceed my goal, writing 5 days a week instead of 4, or occasionally pumping out 3500 words instead of 1500. So it is working - and it's working because once I got over that hump and wrote for a week or so I find that the fun of writing keeps me going. It's kind of like riding a bike over a hill, you push hard in the beginning to get to the crest and then it's all freefall. I've also taken to keeping a spiral notebook with me so I can write whenever - although I usually write on my computer at home.

I dont' know if this helps - but it is where I am at.

MFM

SeanDSchaffer · Aug 17, 2006

Whenever I can find time to write, that's when I write. Otherwise, I don't have a schedule.

Good luck to you, Southern Girl.

Sassenach · Aug 17, 2006

I can't give you much explicit advice, but I've observed that people find time for that which is important to them. It's also been my experience that giving up TV tends to free up a great deal of time for some people.

Shadow_Ferret · Aug 17, 2006

jbal said:
I heard some writer talk about finding time to write, and I'll paraphrase: "If there's one thing we all have it's time, twenty-four hours of it every day."
I have a two year old and a full time job, and a pregnant wife. I have to wait until boith my son and my wife are asleep (11:30 or thereabouts). But I still get in an hour or so a day.

This is my schedule, too. I have a 6 and a 10-year-old and I don't get any writing done until the entire family is asleep or they just distract me. Nothing would get done in the house if I wasn't around to do it for them.

Yes, I'm bitter about it!

So my writing time, my alone time, starts between 9:30 or 10:30 pm (depending on how active they are) every night. I only get about 5 hours of sleep during the week to get my writing done.

jbal · Aug 17, 2006

Shadow_Ferret said:
This is my schedule, too. I have a 6 and a 10-year-old and I don't get any writing done until the entire family is asleep or they just distract me. Nothing would get done in the house if I wasn't around to do it for them.

Yes, I'm bitter about it!

So my writing time, my alone time, starts between 9:30 or 10:30 pm (depending on how active they are) every night. I only get about 5 hours of sleep during the week to get my writing done.

Yep, that sounds about right. I'm lucky that I don't have to leave for work until 9:00 most days, so that helps.
If I try to lock myself in and write while my son is awake, I get: knock knock knock.
"Daaaadaaa!"
No chance of writing with that distraction. Maybe once I acheive Jedi writing skill, but not yet.

crypticquill · Aug 17, 2006

CaroGirl said:
A schedule? I'm supposed to have a schedule? Maybe that's what I'm doing wrong.

LMAO! That is EXACTLY what I was thinking!

I really do need to establish some sort of schedule for myself, though - this going with the flow can get a girl really behind on things.

New here, what is your writing schedule?

Southern_girl29

J. Weiland

Lurker

CaroGirl

Living the dream

Pat~

Luftmensch Emeritus, A.D.D.

Novelhistorian

Akuma

Rare Writer Pokemon

Siddow

I'm super! Thanks for asking

Jamesaritchie

jbal

Mayor of Moronia

Mayor of Moronia

Southern_girl29

TwentyFour

practical experience, FTW

expatbrat

Look what we made:

Becky Writes

Go Tarheels!

Jamesaritchie

earthshoes

Not User Friendly

NightWynde

bylinebree

Still Seeking the Dream

MyFirstMystery

Having Fun with Words

SeanDSchaffer

Sassenach

5 W's & an H

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

jbal

crypticquill

Please don't leave, Mr. Moon