For the first time, my kiddos are both in school and I have oodles of
time during the day to write. I'm not even a full-time writer yet as I
work two days a week in my private practice, but that leaves THREE whole
days of interrupted free time. Therein lies the problem. I wrote three
novels in the past two years, and did it in the one to two hours of time
I had in the evening after the kids went to bed. Those one to two hours
involved nothing but fast, hard writing--because it was all the time I
had to do it. I envisioned that once the kids were in school, I'd be
able to multiply that output by ten, and could crank out a book every
two months. The kids have been in school a grand total of 5 weeks now,
which means I should have another book almost finished, right?
Not
quite. First, I discovered the joy of grocery shopping without little
ones underfoot. If you haven't tried it, it's an amazing experience.
Next, I thought I'd conquer my possessed laundry basket which never
empties no matter how many loads I do. I've seen the bottom of my
laundry basket several times in the past few weeks, a sight I
haven't seen in years. My to-do list has been tackled, my dogs have have
enjoyed walks with me in the morning after I take the kids to school,
and I've caught up with friends for lunches and brunches and other
food-related outings. The most productive writing time for me in the
past few weeks...has been in the one to two hours after the kids go to
bed at night.
What the hell? I mean, I'm still writing
but not nearly the amount I thought I'd be. Part of it is probably the
habit of night writing, and part of it is probably the fact that I have
quiet time in the house by myself for the first time in over eight
years. Part of me worries that even if I were a full-time writer, I
wouldn't be writing more than I am right now--Stephen King would mock my
current habits (if you haven't read On Writing, you should). I'm hoping
the novelty of being home wears off quickly, and I just ordered a day
planner and am going to set myself up on a much stricter writing
schedule (NOTE: the day planner itself looks so fun and amazing that I'm
sure I'll do an entire post on it once it arrives.)
Anyone
else struggle with this issue? Any additional tips you'd like to share?
Pretty please. Or just let me know if you're in the area and want to go
to brunch. ;)
I find it really hard to be able to sit down and write even when it is peacefully quiet. I have 4 girls, 3 of whom are in school, so the house usually stays pretty quiet even with my youngest home during the day. The reason I find it so hard is because there are a million other things that I could (should) be doing, like laundry, dishes, and I get easily distracted by, well, everything!
ReplyDeleteI really do think you're on the right track with a writing schedule. That is something I'm going to have to do if I have any hope of finishing the first draft of my WIP before November 1st!
Hope you can get it arranged so you can get plenty of writing done.
Good luck!
Thanks, Megan. Well, my shiny new planner arrived in the mail yesterday, so I'm pretty excited. I'm even doing a post on it soon. Good luck with your wip!
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