Current Project: Mystic TaxiStatus: Page 274
Uh-oh. I spaced out my blog day. Aargh! I was all set to write it this morning, then work happened and I got distracted... Sorry.
I want to talk about time management, or in my case, the lack of it. I've always been pretty bad about managing my time wisely, and I think it's because I've become sort of flighty in my, uh, mature years. In my youth, I was very militant about my time, getting all my ducks in a row, etc, etc... But unfortunately, my ducks have
flown the coup.Sometimes it's okay to just get things done whenever. Other times, not so much. I've been experiencing that lately, and it creates stress.
It seems that whenever something new gets added to my life, like a new project, or a new puppy, chaos ensues. I've accepted that and work around it.
I think time management is especially hard for writers because I don't know about the rest of you, but I require an atmosphere of peace in order to get the words down. Constant interruptions disrupt my flow. How about you? Can you write no matter what's going on around you at any given time? Can you write in the ten minutes you have before leaving for an appointment? Or while the spaghetti's boiling? Or while the puppy goes out to pee? I'm challenged in this regard. Please tell me I'm not alone.
5 comments:
YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
When I was thirty-five, I could write whenever and whatever. I wrote as the kids argued, as the pots boiled, as questions whizzed past my head.
Now that I, ahem, mature, I need time. That's not accurate, it started relatively at a young age after the kids weren't home. I started needing my space. There is a rhythm I love, like the flowing of a river, I crave this. It allows me to write and relax and write and work and write ...
Things attacked it. My dh's retirement and the subsequent change to my desires and schedule. My mother's needs. All of a sudden, I wasn't alone anymore. Ack!
Lately, that rhythm is a distant memory and I have to admit in my selfish heart of hearts, I dearly resent it. I need it. I miss it.
So, Karen, you are not alone.
Hey, Alice, I could have guessed I wasn't alone. You've sure had your routine skewered, and I imagine it's tough staying on some kind of a track. {{{{HUGS}}}}
Neither of you are alone. :)
I need fairly large blocks of uninterrupted time to do deep writing. I can do editing most any time or anywhere, but not that peel-back-the-layers, dig-to-the-soul writing that makes really good stories.
Hope your rhythm returns soon, Alice. Here are more (((HUGS))) to add to Karen's.
Even when the kids were still at home, I didn't sit down to write unless they were in school or no one was home. I need my space, but if I'm out somewhere and waiting, I can pullout a pad and pen and write a scene with the world going on around me. Granted it doesn't usually get put in a story word for word, but I can jot down dialogue and actions.
While the grandkids were here, I tried to work on my writing before they got up and when they took naps, otherwise it was grandma this and grandma that and I couldn't even answer an e-mail without an interruption.
Alice, I can, in a way, relate to what you are going through at the moment. Hang in there.
Intersting blog, Karen.
Genene, that's a great example of an exception for me. Revisions. If I'm just tightening and rewriting parts of a manuscript, I can do that just about any time and anywhere. So I'm with you on that one.
Paty, as much as you love the little darlings, I completely understand how frustrating those interruptions can be. Sigh. The other day I was paying some bills, the puppy was running around getting into stuff, and I ended up mailing two of the bills without stamps. They came back for "insufficient postage." You think? LOL! One ended up late, but I think the other one arrived at its destination in time.
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