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Question for Aspiring Authors
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One of my biggest problems as a writer (not doing it full time) is finding/making the time in my daily schedule to dedicate to writing. The question of balancing your day job and everyday life with writing is what gets me the most.
That's been a difficult thing for me too. Often I find myself multi tasking the writing in with something leisure like watching a movie. How do you deal with it?
Thanks so much for your feedback.
Hi, guys! Indie author here (and new to Goodreads).I guess I'm lucky since I live alone and my full-time job doesn't take up too much of my time. The only thing I can suggest is designating some time in your week when you can work undisturbed and where you know nothing will distract you.
I know this sounds cliché, but the whole "in a coffee shop with your laptop" schtick works great for me, but only if I have at least a few hours to spare. When I'm at home, I'm more tempted to goof around on the internet or play computer games.
And I know this doesn't work well for everyone, but planning out your story can be helpful because it'll give you a direction. That can, in turn, make you feel more confident about dedicating more time to your writing.
But I know the feeling. I'd go months without writing a single sentence, and then later I'd write a hundred pages in a single month.
I've been at this a while so I'll offer a few thougths. First off, you are not an "aspiring writer." If you are putting words on the page, you are a writer. If not, not. Give yourself full credit!Secondly, after writing my first two or three (quietly buried) novels, I can definitey say that you are better off writing for 15 minutes every than writing for three hours every four months. And though I've been coming to outlines late and reluctantly, an outline is great for giving you a quick road back into your writing each time you pick it up, so that if life derails you for a day or a week or more you don't waste so much time getting back in the swing of it.
One thing that leapt out at me in your post, Bobby, was writing while watching TV. My advice is to mentally commit to finishing a book. And then write. Every single chance you get. As a mother of two (and at one time working full time), I had to cut out TV watching, video games, anything that was a time waster. I took a notebook with me everywhere and wrote during work breaks, at parks, in grocery lines... Then I would stay up late transferring to computer. Writing doesn't always come freely. You have good days and bad. It's work. Sometimes you have to put your head down and just get it done.
Sabrina, I've done some of my best work in the waiting room at the doctor's or dentist's! We moms especially have some times where it's easy to work with no distractions, while we wait for our children in uncongenial places.
So true, Rebecca! I always laugh when I see writing blogs/commercials with perfect little desk/work areas for a writer in a quiet room. When you have kids, you learn to seize opportunities real fast.
Sabrina wrote: "One thing that leapt out at me in your post, Bobby, was writing while watching TV. My advice is to mentally commit to finishing a book. And then write. Every single chance you get. As a mother of t..."Sabrina, I KNOW you're right. The way to effectively work and be efficient is to concentrate fully on the task...THe thing is my brain is like a restless teenager and I find that having the t.v. on can trick my brain into thinking its leisure time....My brain relaxes and then if I start looking at my notes and adding to them, it doesn't feel so much like work. It feels casual....and sometimes that kickstarts me into writing....
The truth is that I'm not really watching t.v. I guess. I just have it on to break the silence...I want to make a metaphor right now about that whirring thing that moms use when they have a baby in the womb. haha. you know what i mean.
But ideally, I hope to develop a more structured, disciplined schedule (sans t.v.). It seems otherwise, I'll never really knock out the necessary hours to get it done.
Bobby wrote: But ideally, I hope to develop a more structured, disciplined schedule (sans t.v.). It seems otherwise, I'll never really knock out the necessary hours to get it done. Keep in mind too, that everyone has a different writing process. You just have to find it. Some writers only work off outlines. Others, like me, are organic writers, who have some vague, shadowed outline in the back of their subconscious and just start writing, letting the story shape itself. But whatever your process, as you said, it takes discipline.
I think one of the biggest things I had to learn is that you can't wait for inspiration, or for your brain to get into that writing groove. It's kind of like getting up for work in the morning. Some days are easier than others, but most days, you have to force yourself to get moving. Same with writing in my experience. The more you learn to push past that fog, the easier it becomes to make yourself write. Sometimes it's a matter of just putting one word after another and not being afraid to write utter crap.
I think one of the biggest things I had to learn is that you can't wait for inspiration, or for your brain to get into that writing groove. It's kind of like getting up for work in the morning. Some days are easier than others, but most days, you have to force yourself to get moving. Same with writing in my experience. The more you learn to push past that fog, the easier it becomes to make yourself write. Sometimes it's a matter of just putting one word after another and not being afraid to write utter crap. This. For sure.
I think one of the biggest problems I've come across is running out of steam somewhere around the middle, and then petering off and giving up before reaching the end (or if I'm feeling stubborn, rushing the end just to get it done with and out of the way).Different writers have different ways of combating this; what works best for me is taking a short break when I hit that dead zone, work on either another writing project or a different sort of creative project all together, and then come back once my brain is a bit better rested and I can approach the writing with zest again.
E.L.> Taking a break can also give you some time to re-evaluate what you're writing and how to improve it. I got stuck halfway through my novel too before I fully realized the direction I wanted to take it. Good luck!
I have been gradually and reluctantly coming around to outlining. It does help give me somewhere to go when I'm not sure where I'm going.
I'm taking vigorous notes as I make the journey, not just about the story I'm working on but about the writing process. Difficulties I run into, solutions I come up with to those difficulties. I'm thinking of starting a blog soon that offers writing craft articles and a comment section so people can offer their own feedback.
I'd really like to know of some questions/problems/issues writers run into, especially first time writers...
I am grateful for any input you have to offer. Thanks so much.