Finding the time to write when you have a day job
and children is a logistical nightmare. It's not that I don't take writing
seriously. I do. I take it very seriously. I sit in front of the laptop with
Downton Abbey on mute. That's commitment. Even if I do watch it again with the
sound up the next day.
I think the challenge is forging the headspace to 'think' like a writer. You can't just sit down and inspiration strikes. In fact, if you aren't lucky/ talented/ driven/ connected enough to generate your main income through writing, then that sacred time in the evening when the kids are in bed and you have a rare hour to call your own, can often be the time when you have a total brain freeze.
I have a couple of suggestions.
Now these might not work for everyone, I'm not claiming to be the Paul Daniels of inspiration. But they work for me sometimes, so thought it would be only fair to share them.
The first thing, and this isn't so much about writing, as clearing your head, is to get your jobs list out of the way on Monday, and keep that piece of paper handy to add to.
There's nothing more distracting than sitting down to work on the second draft of your play about the middle aged woman in the hospice who has been reunited with her abandoned son, (for example...) and then remembering that you haven't wrapped the River Island BNWT jeans that someone won from you on eBay the previous week, and absolutely needs to be posted tomorrow or you'll definitely get a bad rating.
Just write it on the list. The list might end up becoming longer than your unwritten novel, but if you can resist the urge to do the washing up, or find the debit card that has been posted out to you and must be in the daunting drawer of shit, or check your online bank balance, then you're starting to win the battle with procrastination.
Which leads me to the second thing. Disable the Internet. Unless you need the web for research as an on-going thing while writing, it is the ultimate master of lost time.
During a particularly unproductive afternoon when my partner had taken our daughter out for a walk to give me some time to write, I realised how much time I could waste stalking old school friends on Facebook, watching town bikes on eBay, and following threads of twitter conversations between Alan Sugar and Piers Morgan.
And, like a well versed adulterer or politician, I had an almost water tight explanation for my lack of actual writing when my boyfriend returned three hours later. I was, of course, researching and thinking.
And finally, and this is the one I find most difficult and also most rewarding. Don't self-edit while you go along. Try having one or two sessions, or even a whole week if you have the self-discipline, to write, to splurge, to get it out of your head and onto the page or screen. And then use an equal amount of time to go back though your writing and see if there are any gems.
It is so easy yet so debilitating to deliberate over your work before you've even had chance to get going. To talk yourself out of the good stuff because the first couple of paragraphs were rubbish. Ignore them. Write more. Move on.
Right.
Best get back to Downton. It’s not going to watch itself.
Anna Jefferson
youcantakeherhomenow.blogspot.
I think the challenge is forging the headspace to 'think' like a writer. You can't just sit down and inspiration strikes. In fact, if you aren't lucky/ talented/ driven/ connected enough to generate your main income through writing, then that sacred time in the evening when the kids are in bed and you have a rare hour to call your own, can often be the time when you have a total brain freeze.
I have a couple of suggestions.
Now these might not work for everyone, I'm not claiming to be the Paul Daniels of inspiration. But they work for me sometimes, so thought it would be only fair to share them.
The first thing, and this isn't so much about writing, as clearing your head, is to get your jobs list out of the way on Monday, and keep that piece of paper handy to add to.
There's nothing more distracting than sitting down to work on the second draft of your play about the middle aged woman in the hospice who has been reunited with her abandoned son, (for example...) and then remembering that you haven't wrapped the River Island BNWT jeans that someone won from you on eBay the previous week, and absolutely needs to be posted tomorrow or you'll definitely get a bad rating.
Just write it on the list. The list might end up becoming longer than your unwritten novel, but if you can resist the urge to do the washing up, or find the debit card that has been posted out to you and must be in the daunting drawer of shit, or check your online bank balance, then you're starting to win the battle with procrastination.
Which leads me to the second thing. Disable the Internet. Unless you need the web for research as an on-going thing while writing, it is the ultimate master of lost time.
During a particularly unproductive afternoon when my partner had taken our daughter out for a walk to give me some time to write, I realised how much time I could waste stalking old school friends on Facebook, watching town bikes on eBay, and following threads of twitter conversations between Alan Sugar and Piers Morgan.
And, like a well versed adulterer or politician, I had an almost water tight explanation for my lack of actual writing when my boyfriend returned three hours later. I was, of course, researching and thinking.
And finally, and this is the one I find most difficult and also most rewarding. Don't self-edit while you go along. Try having one or two sessions, or even a whole week if you have the self-discipline, to write, to splurge, to get it out of your head and onto the page or screen. And then use an equal amount of time to go back though your writing and see if there are any gems.
It is so easy yet so debilitating to deliberate over your work before you've even had chance to get going. To talk yourself out of the good stuff because the first couple of paragraphs were rubbish. Ignore them. Write more. Move on.
Right.
Best get back to Downton. It’s not going to watch itself.
Anna Jefferson
youcantakeherhomenow.blogspot.
Anna is a regular contributor on The Unofficial 'Brit Writers and Writers Everywhere' blog
Loved reading this! :D it's all too true... sigh...when I'm out somewhere and unable to write I tell myself "Wow! I feel so inspired right now! Wish I could just get home, sit down and let the words flow onto the page right now!!"...but alas when I get home, in front of the screen, plenty of time to write...well ermmm...the internet.
ReplyDeleteMy kind gal. :-)
ReplyDeleteProcrastination, the writer's devil.
Good post. Thanks
Wendy xxx