A Time and a Place to Write

Status
Not open for further replies.

Dylan_Perry

Registered
Joined
May 4, 2013
Messages
48
Reaction score
7
Location
Florida
This might not be the right place to post this. If it is, then I apologize and will move or delete it. I just didn't see a thread on when and where you write.

I moved to Florida recently, and on the lookout for a job. I don't know anyone here yet, except for my dad and brother. So my days are pretty wide open. That'll change when I land a job, even if it's part-time, and meet some people outside my family :)Wha:). For now, it's just me and my brother at the apartment most of the time.

Anyway, here's what my day looks like.

Set phone alarm for 8AM.

Start writing at 9AM and don't stop until lunch.

I do a lap around my apartment complex to walk lunch off, then keep writing if I did not hit my page/word count (Page count for scripts, word count for novels/short stories) or do some editing if I'm still fired up.

Afternoons are spent looking for a job in my area and learning to do this networking thing on here, and on the 'Facebook' and the 'Twitter' (#StillDontUnderstandTwitter). After dinner I'll read, or hang out with the family, watch movies with them, or we'll all just chill and do our thing. It's very laid back and every night is different.

In bed around 11 and asleep by midnight to do it all over again.

As I said before, it's pretty open right now. Though, even when I had a job, I always kept my schedule flexible. I never knew when someone would say "We're going to [cool place] for the night, wanna come?" or "Someone asked me to go to [cool place] and spend the night! Would you mind taking care of [child or plant] for me?" The only exception is writing. I write for three hours, every day. And if something happens in the morning and I can't write, I'll adjust and do it when everyone's gone to bed. I can write about anywhere (airports, on the road) and at any time, though I am more comfortable doing it at my home, especially once I start getting into a routine.


So, what do your days look like? Do you write in specific places, or times?
 

Susan Coffin

Tell it like it Is
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 24, 2007
Messages
8,049
Reaction score
772
Location
Clearlake Park, CA
Website
www.strokingthepen.com
:welcome: Dylan. :)

M,W,F I get up at 5:15 and go workout and run at the gym.
T,TH I get up at about 6:30
Sat I get up at about 7 and run
Sun I get up just whenever

I work M-F from 8:30-5:00 p.m. My writing time is in the evenings, and since I've gotten a Kindle Fire, I do a bit of writing on my lunch break. Otherwise, I write in the evenings. No set schedule, but I do try and write about an hour a day. On the weekends, I write more.

I am pretty busy with work, family stuff, etc. too.
 

njmagas

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
199
Reaction score
13
Location
Kyoto, Japan
Website
njmagas.wordpress.com
For the most part, it's this:

9:00am - wake up
9:00-10:00 - hiking
10:00-11:00 - wake up (coffee stage)
11:00 - 1:00 - writing
1:00- 2:00 - house cleaning
2:00 - shower
3:00 - 6:00 work
7:00 - 8:00 - kendo
10:00-1:00 - writing
 

Little Anonymous Me

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 24, 2012
Messages
5,191
Reaction score
1,184
Location
Florida
Oh gosh. I just got paroled into summer break, so I will have to shamefully admit I did zip writing during the semester. Had no time for it. But, I'm trying desperately to get back in the swing of things and I think this is how I normally do it (on non-work days lol) :

9-10AM: Start. Review last paragraph written to get back in the groove. Continue until I'm nearly dying of starvation. This can take any where from 2-4 hours, depending on how engrossed I am. Break's about a 1/2 hour.

Stop for dinner and family time around 4, resume writing at 7. Continue until I go to bed.


I would like to say this is me on a highly productive day, not one where I start out strong and end up on 9gag for hours on end. :tongue
 

CJ Knightrey

She Who Constantly Changes Avatars
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 30, 2012
Messages
492
Reaction score
32
Location
Toronto, Canada
Monday-Friday (word count goal 500 words a day)
10:00 am - wake up
12:20 pm - get to work, write for fourty minutes then start work at 1
3:15 pm - first break, write for 15 minutes
5:15 pm - lunch break, write for for 30 minutes
7:15 pm - last break, write for 15 minutes
9:00 pm - end of shift, go home
9:30 - 3:00 am - watch tv, eat, and finish writing if I didn't meet the word count, then go to sleep

Weekends I up my word count to 625 -1000 words a day, and there really isn't a schedule for that. I just do whatever I feel like doing. The majority of my week is on a strict schedule which sucks, so I try to be more free on the weekends.

Oddly enough I find that the only time I'm almost guaranteed to get my word count done is on my breaks at work. There's something about doing boring and repetitive work for hours that makes me want to write when I go on break. I'm actually less likely to complete my word count on the weekends.:Shrug: No idea why.
 

CatchingADragon

dragon seeker
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
231
Reaction score
22
Location
Virginia, USA
Website
catchingadragon.com
I tried writing on a schedule for a while, but then it felt like a chore and I either procrastinated or felt disconnected from what I wrote.

So I write whenever and wherever I feel like it, as I did when I was young. I never force myself and I don't write everyday. This way, I stay focused on what excites me about the story I'm working on and it never feels like a chore. (I'm always a little annoyed when pros advocate writing everyday and sticking to a schedule because it simply doesn't work for everyone. Some of us do better without structure.)

I usually fall into a pattern for a few weeks, then shift to some new pattern. For example, I'll write for a few hours every morning at my desk. Weeks later, I'll be writing in the evenings at the kitchen table, or outside on a nice day. Weeks later, I'll be writing at night in front of the TV or on the floor. Sometimes my creativity seems to flow better in the morning, sometimes at night. I seem to need to shift things up every now and then.
 

Beachgirl

Not easily managed
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 5, 2012
Messages
3,848
Reaction score
232
Location
On a beach, of course.
Welcome to Florida! :welcome: I'm on the southwest coast.

I have a full-time job, but I recently went through a bout of unemployment and spent about 10 hours a day writing. Now though, I grab an hour of writing on my lunch break and I try to get in a couple of hours every evening. On weekends I will usually take one day off and then write for three or four hours on the other day. Sometimes that day is Saturday and sometimes it's Sunday, depending on what plans I have.
 

rwm4768

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
15,471
Reaction score
768
Location
Missouri
Right now, I'm not writing at all. I've been too depressed.

When I am writing, I'm pretty flexible about it. I prefer word count goals to time goals. Usually, three thousand words is a good day. Of course, I don't have a job or school, so I have the time to do that.

Now if I could just find the motivation again...
 

C. Greenwood

Old Fish
Registered
Joined
May 4, 2013
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
I definitely have certain places where I'm most comfortable writing. I wish I was the type who could carry around a notebook and scribble on lunch break or while sitting in the car, but that's just not me. I write best:

* In the bathtub
* At the desk in my computer room
* In bed
* On the living room couch, using my netbook

As for time of day, it's easiest for me to write late at night because that's when my kids are in bed and the house is quiet.
 

lalyil

The Lukewarm
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
Messages
173
Reaction score
5
Location
UK
Damn, writing in the bathtub sounds great lol I'm definitely going to attempt that (probably best not to do that on my laptop though lol)

I tried writing on a schedule for a while, but then it felt like a chore and I either procrastinated or felt disconnected from what I wrote.

This! ^

I go to uni 5 days a week, normally finish around 3-4pm, return home, then I have work (work from home), then if I'm not absolutely knackered I would spend some time writing.
I've been writing since September and I'm only on page 50 (it is a script though), so yeah I write slowly. Considering my schedule I'm surprised I write at all and always give myself a pat on the back when I manage to lol
 

seun

Horror Man
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 3, 2006
Messages
9,709
Reaction score
2,054
Age
48
Location
uk
Website
www.lukewalkerwriter.com
Monday to Friday, 830 - 5 I'm at work. Writing time is Monday, Tuesday and Thursday nights 630 to about 845, then Saturday and Sunday from 11 to 3. Any other time, I'm either asleep or doing rest of life stuff.
 

Teinz

Back at it again.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 20, 2010
Messages
2,440
Reaction score
186
Location
My favourite chair by the window.
I write best on the livingroom couch or in the garden. On weekdays, I try to write at night and I'm satisfied with only a few words.

In de weekends, writing is a morning tradition, with lots of coffee. That's when I get the most words in.
 

JFitchett92

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 3, 2013
Messages
901
Reaction score
75
Location
Lancing, UK
My writing mostly happens in the evenings, as I have kids and it's a little easier when they aren't around.

I can't write for more than 2 hours, else my hands begin to go blue (I have poor circulation in my hands and feet, it's the same when it comes to playing videogames).

I study Music at university, so on a tuesday and friday I go in early and write. Lots of soundproof studios to work in :p

@Susan: How do you find the kindle fire? I'm thinking of getting a Samsung Tab 2 for writing out and about.
 

DragonHeart

Oerba Yun Fang
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 16, 2005
Messages
2,479
Reaction score
245
Location
New Hampshire
Website
www.thefinalfantasy.com
I don't always follow it, but I generally have two writing 'blocks' scheduled. Tuesday - Friday, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m. and 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., with a short break for lunch.

Saturday I work a day shift and I'm usually so wiped from the 'zombie combo' of closing the night before and then working the next morning that I tend not to do anything of consequence. Half the time I nap straight through dinner, actually.

Sunday is my free day when I spend time with my hobbies and/or friends and/or family, and also throwing something in the Crock Pot for dinner. Sometimes I write but most of the time I don't.

Monday is also a free day, but more in the sense that I reserve it for any appointments or larger errands and occasionally a little more social time. I may or may not write depending on what's going on.

During school of course I tend to cut way back on the writing time to make room for homework and class time and such.
 

pezerp59

Inexorable
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 11, 2013
Messages
50
Reaction score
0
Location
Florida
When I'm home I write on iMac, iPad for portable, PC on breaks at work.
 

KateJJ

coffee and pistols at dawn
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 5, 2012
Messages
1,489
Reaction score
495
I do my non-writing from 7:30 to around 4 or 4:30 depending on how long a lunch break I took. Then I get up and move from the office to the living room. Write until around 5:45 when my husband gets home and we have dinner. The kiddo goes down at 7:30 (she's the world's best four year old. Hangs out with me while I work and write and is remarkably not in the way) and I can have another writing session then, or relax with my husband.

I have a project word count set in Scrivener and a deadline. Scrivener calculates a goal for me to hit that day, and I have to make that goal. Once it's done I can write more or goof off as I like. Right now, my goal is about 2300 words per day. Days where I do better means the next day can be less!

Weekends? I write when I want, in between playing with the husband and kid, church activities, that sort of stuff.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.