I don't know about you, but my writing time is like GOLD. Between a full time job, kids and keeping my house somewhat clean, the hours can slip away if I let them. But at the same time, I'm lucky because I'm a teacher. That means Christmas and summers off. Still, this seems to be the biggest issue for me for my writing.
How do I find the time?
1. Determine set times in the day to write and stick to those. So for me it's an hour and half in the mornings before I have to get ready for work (unfortunately that means 5-6:30 am) and then again at nights, usually from 8 until I can't see straight.
2. Trade kid time with my supportive hubby. We do special kid times on the weekends. So I take the boys for a few hours so my hubby gets his stuff done, and then I'm in charge of the kids for a few hours. I try to make those moments with my kids special so that when I hand them over to my husband, I can get back to my writing guilt free.
3. Babysitter- I haven't used this yet, but it's definitely in my arsenal!
4. Always on the brain!- this means that I'm planning what to write while I drive to school that morning or when I take a shower or cook dinner. Because when it's time to sit down and write, I don't have the time to mess around.
5. For us MiGs we did check ups and on each other during the month of NaNo to motivate each other to keep writing. We'd email each other our word counts for the day and that helped me keep accountable to staying focused.
I can't tell you how much I would love to have the luxury of writing full time, but that's not an option right now so instead of complaining about it, I'm trying to stay positive and remember that I'm doing what I love more than anything else.
Any ideas that you'd like to share?
~Christina
I teach also and that consistent morning time is what gets manuscripts written. Weekends and holidays are wonderful - but I sometimes wonder if I'd be less productive if I had all day to do as I wish.
ReplyDeleteOh Christina...people like you are such an inspiration. What with your families and jobs and all I don't know how you get it all done. But you do. I say, whatever works, do it!
ReplyDeleteThanks Bish. You are sweet. And encouraging!
ReplyDeleteJaye- yes! So so true.
Index cards! Carry them in your purse and as soon as you pull into the school parking lot, write down what you brainstormed on the drive. It will make it so much easier to write in the evenings.
ReplyDeleteWhen I meet classroom teachers who are also writers, they seem to fall into two camps. The ones who say, "Oh, I just cannot write when I'm teaching," and the ones who say, "I do it mornings, nights, and weekends." The latter are so productive! Way to go, Christina. :)
ReplyDeleteKate- Index cards. Wow. What a great idea. I'm going to steal it.
ReplyDeleteMarcia- Thanks! That's so encouraging. :-)