Married Guys--How often do you do it. Write that is.

[popmuze]

I'm not talking about the people who do nothing but stay home and write eight hours a day (Lucky dogs). I'm talking about most of us who also have full time jobs as well as full time spouses.
How many days do you get a chance to write--how many hours?

[Jack Nog]

Good Question...and I'm not sure. I'll take all of the above and add in a 15 month old.

My job is fairly laid back. I'm not blatant about it, but I can sometimes write or at least do research there. Most of the time, I'll take my laptop out to the car for lunch and shovel from behind the steering wheel for an hour or so. I've found I actually get the most done doing this.

Home is a different story (no pun) altogether. I usually don't even have time at night for revisions. I do like to spend as much time as possible with my wife and son, so I don't usually write at home. The weekends are also busy, so if I can put in 500 words, I'm over the moon happy with myself.

I will say I try to cram it in whenever I can. If my wife goes out, and takes my son, it's time to write. If she goes out, and he goes down for a nap, time to write. I'm not saying I'm perfect at this. The house has a lot of distractions over the car. Computer with video games, the hi-def TV always calls, and of course general house work (yard management for the PC).

So it's never easy, put in what you can is what I say. Hell, write a page a day, 250 words. After one year, you've got a novel!

[Norman D Gutter]

Interesting question.

My wife and I are empty-nesters, but for nine months in 02-03 we had four foster kids. Despite the busyness, it was during that time I was able to finish my first novel, 500 words a night after the kids and wife went to bed. I was able to edit it once through. Of course, my work suffered, as 4-5 hours sleep a night did not refresh me enough to function at the pressure-cooker job I have.

I write less now, not because I have less time, but because over the ensuing years I have learned more and more about the publishing industry and have concluded the chances of success too slim to motivate me to sacrifice to write. Perhaps I'll pull out of my funk soon. And the job is still a pressure-cooker, worse in 2004-06, better in 07 as I've been moved to a training position.

So I spend my noon hours--when I can take them--on writing internet sites, or in research, occasionally in re-editing my novel, or in documenting thoughts for future writing projects when time and motivation coalesce. Evenings I write a little in a journal, and read things I think will help me with writing, be it how-to books and articles or books of the sort I would like to publish. At night I dream my books.

And in all I think about retirement, which is only 9 years, 7 months, and 9 days away.

NDG

[KTC]

I have a full time job and kids who are active. I'm either working or taking a kid to hockey, work, etc. I have a dog that I walk for about an hour a day...sometimes longer. I am also juggling a second job as freelance writer. I still manage to squeeze out about two hour a day for my fiction and poetry. The trick is to get yourself out of bed early. I'm out by 4:30-4:45am.

[scarletpeaches]

Yikes! I'm usually only just going to bed at that time.

Oh but what am I doing in this thread anyway? Despite rumours to the contrary I am not a guy!

[gem1122]

I am a part-time at-home dad, having the kids 3 days a week. The other two days, I teach college. Now that the semester is over, I have two whole days a week to myself this summer. Today is the first day.

And what am I doing?

Not writing.

Anyway, it is difficult to get much done during the semesters, and the summers are usually overrun with home remodeling projects. This summer, I hope to ignore those things as much as possible, though, and get a serious number of pages written.

[popmuze]

The other two days, I teach college

That was always the dream job to me, teaching (writing) in college. You get all that time off and all those adoring coeds. However, I wound up in the music business.

With a 40-50 hour week, and 10 hours of commuting, I still wonder how and when I did an entire draft of a novel in ten months in '02 (and I didn't even have a laptop, which might have made those commuting hours so much more productive).

[gem1122]

You get all that time off and all those adoring coeds.

With a 40-50 hour week, and 10 hours of commuting, I still wonder how and when I did an entire draft of a novel in ten months in '02 (and I didn't even have a laptop, which might have made those commuting hours so much more productive).

Ah, the adoring coeds....until, of course, they receive their first grades of the semester. :)

I always seem to get more accomplished when I have the least amount of time. Why is that?!