Writing at work

Lunch hours are your friend.

On hold on the phone? start writing.

Stuck waiting for a meeting? write on a notepad. Bored in a meeting? Same thing.

Tip:

I have managed to resize my internet explorer window to fit in the preview pane of Outlook.

You could probably do the same with notepad... just saying

I wish these tips worked for me. I now work in a warehouse with no computer access, so I'll be reduced to scribbling away longhand on the bus or in my lunch hour.

Name your document something really generic, like "November." Oh, and resize your view to 100%, normal view. This gives you a bunch of white space to the right; you can hit the scroll bar at the bottom of the screen to move all your text out of view. That way if you have to step away from your computer for a minute and someone comes snooping around, all they'll see is a blank document titled "November."

Depends on your workplace. My boss knows what I do. Heck, she's bought copies of both books for her kids. I've been writing on my lunch hour for almost 7 years now. But my coworkers also know I try not to abuse that time. (Mostly because I like my job, and would prefer not to lose it.)

I do take the occasional AW break, though

Oh, and always try to look pissed or concerned. Most people will take that facial expression to mean you're busy, and they will be less likely to bother you.

Whenever I'm concentrating I tend to look pissed. It isn't intentional on my part and I do it even when I'm in a good mood, but it works for me. I don't get bothered a lot.

And get a rear view mirror for your desk. Trust me, you need one.

I'm going to use google document or whatever it's called. Have it in one tab in firefox or whatever, my e-mail (general internet usage is assumed in my work)in another. People never look at the tab names. Many people wouldn't know anything about tabbed browsing.

Sassee said:

Oh, and always try to look pissed or concerned. Most people will take that facial expression to mean you're busy, and they will be less likely to bother you.

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This is very very very true.

The cool thing about my job is I am here most days by myself just waiting on customers to come in. There isnt a lot of traffic in our store due to the owners having some aversion to advertising so I sit here alone and surf the internet a lot. This is gonna give me about 8 hours per day BIC to be able to do SOMETHING productive.

Almost like I am real writer as I am getting paid to sit and write...LOL

Since I'm a student, most teachers let you use your computer in class to take notes. But I'm not always taking class-related notes

Get a privacy screen for your monitor.

If your place of business uses templates for office documentation, write in a blank template. They may see business headers but they might not notice the text...not that I've ever done anything like that.

I have to do so much report writing for work, its no problem for me to write at work. I wouldn't even attempt this if I couldn't write at work; I would have no time otherwise.

bsolah said:

I got warned today about using the Internet too much at work...

This could be a blow to my efforts and it will be interesting if I can find a way to novel during November.

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So stop browsing and WRITE. That way you can tell them you've been using the Internet less...

I'm one of the lucky few who has 'free time' when nothing is going on, so they don't care if I write at work as long as my work is done and no one important is in the room. It beats the hell out of the guy in the back office who keeps looking at porn and getting computer viruses, I guess (that for some reason I always have to fix...bookkeeper by day/computer technician by late afternoon...go figure). So, I have no tricks to share. Get used to minimizing the window, FAST, I suppose.

Today I wrote during French and Grammar classes. Teachers think I'm using my computer to take notes, and they never really check what I'm doing, so all's well.

during the school day

i just can't write. i signed a contract saying i would teach the kids. so of course that is what i do. all day, every day. they do keep me on my toes and really they are kind of fun.

i did not sign a contract agreeing to sit through boring teacher training sessions. so i act like i am taking notes but actually i work on my newest story in spanish! that way mr. snoopy snoopy principal--the snot nosed kid young enough to be my kid --cannot prove that ancient mrs. shakey is not paying attention to his golden words. although i am sure he has a sneaking suspicion that she does not give a rat's ass for his theories on anything. the thing is, deeply involved in the tarea at hand i tend not to snort and roll my eyes like so many of the veteran teachers. so actually i come off as being more respectful. jaja --s6

I work nights at a call center. Nearly all of my writing is done at work. Though it is irritating when someone calls in with an actual problem. Man, I hate those guys...

Luckily, I face oncoming traffic, so if anybody's comin, they'll only see the back of my monitor. I've got plenty of time to pop something else open. Only a window behind me. No peepers.

I work from home. ^_^ No one staring over my shoulder.

Stormhawk said:

I work from home. ^_^ No one staring over my shoulder.

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Got any tips for writing at home? My nanonovel is stalled.

Break it up into sections. I'm writing 500-word bites and that's doing wonders for me.