A good friend of mine nudged me into evaluating my writing time. I realized I’m relying too much on Thursday and Fridays (when the twins are in preschool) to get ahead in my WIP. The problem with my system is that the girls often miss school because they’re sick or the school’s closed, which means no writing time for me. Sometimes, my husband watches the kids on the weekend so I can have some quality “me time”, but since it’s not every weekend, I can’t count on it.
Some people write in the evening or stay up late. I can’t do that. After a full day with four year old twins, I’m pretty beat. Today, I got up at five to write, but I know from experience, my body won’t tolerate more than a month of lack of sleep, especially with the tough workout schedule I put in at the gym.
So, here’s the plan. I’m going to cut back on my blogging time. *gasp* I know. I know. I’ll miss you, too, but it’s really for the best. You want to read my book some day, don’t you? Anyway, it won’t be too bad. My new blogging schedule is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (starting today). See? You’ll still have three days a week with me. Think you can handle it?
What kind of sacrifices have you made in order to get more writing done?
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I blog M/W/F, too. It's a big time saver. And plenty enough, as far as I can tell. I've cut back on online groups and almost always delete without reading all the 'funnies' that come by email. It all adds up. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI've cut back to two days a week, usually Tue. and Sat. And I've cut back to how many blogs I read and comment on as much as I'd like to do lots of both, I'm finding I'm spending way too much time blogging and not enough time writing! Oh the sacrifices we writers have to make!
ReplyDeleteI SHOULD sacrifice some blogging time, but I haven't been able to make myself do it yet. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're figuring out what works for you. Blogging three days a week is a great schedule. I love it. And I've had to give up daily reading all the blogs I follow. I try to hit them once a week, but I can't always do that either. But...I'm making great progress on my book. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI have to write late at night after everyone is in bed. And I usually pay for it by being tired all the time.
ReplyDeleteI really need to cut down on blogging,though. I only post about three days a week, but I spend a lot of time reading others and commenting.
Like you, I back off the Internet a bit. And some housework goes undone.
ReplyDeleteI have no kids and am fully self-employed - I don't know how people with kids or a full-time job get anything accomplished. My hat off to you!
Hey, you've got to do what works best for you. I write from 9 -11 PM, and it's usually very light. I do most of my writing on the weekends, because I have longer hours and the husband is home.
ReplyDeleteWe'll be here when you are, so no worries!
I too am backing off the internet, which includes twitter. Thinking of posting only once every couple of weeks - or so.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I want my novel finished.
Hope the time off blogging helps you with your journey :)
I've sacrificed sleep and sanity! I try very hard not to let my writing in the way of family time, unless I'm working on a deadline.
ReplyDeleteI'd really have to say I've sacrificed sleep...lots and lots of sleep! Thank goodness for under-eye cover up!
xoxo -- Hilary
I must admit I've become obsessed with blogging and haven't done a thing on my Writing for Children course for the last 2 months. And my latest short story idea is still swimming around in my head. Also it's still school holidays here in NZ, so that's another excuse :o) Best of luck with your writing.
ReplyDeleteBlogging takes a large chunk out of my time too. I'm trying to get on a schedule, posting short posts certain days, and themed ones for others.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to find the right balance but I'm sure you'll be able to do it. Readers understand bloggers don't sit in front of their computers all day. (Well we do, but not just blogging the whole time. Tee hee.)
Someone tweeted that they write 50 minutes at a time the other day, and they do that 8 times a day. I can't do that. But I may be able to do it two or three times. I write when the kids go to school and before I go to work, and when the kids are done with homework, we find something to keep them occupied for a while and I enter the writing den again, even if it's only for an hour. After dinner I may again, it depends on what we have going on.
I totally agree with you - I can stay up late a few days in a row trying to write, but after that - brain dead city. I've learned it's better to use small chunks of WORKING brain time than suck out all of my energy and end up with not as good a job as I know I can do (working on "empty".)
Lynette I've done the same thing! My children are six and ten and even though they're in school, the time flies! We'll wait for you and savor each post we get. Hug those babies!
ReplyDeleteI knew from experience with my personal blog that a blog can take over your life, so I only post to my writing blog on Sundays and Wednesday most of the time. (I occasionally make an exception for a quick observation.)
ReplyDeleteI get up at 5:00 a.m. to write for an hour before getting ready for work in order to keep my goal of writing every day.
I write by hand so I carry the notebook I write in with me to school. It adds a little weight to the school bag but I have so much down time during my day that I actually can be pretty productive. I know what you mean about the blog taking over all your time. It's all-consuming at times.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad you have to cut back--I've just discovered your great posts--but writing your book is more important. Three times a week is still more frequent than what I manage, and I don't have children. I salute you. I've also given you a blog award:
ReplyDeletehttp://lorelclayton.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-love-awards-really.html
Congrats!
Three blogs a week is a great schedule, especially if it gives you more time to work on your novel. Happy writing!
ReplyDeleteI blog M/W/F too. I just don't have the time to give it more than 3 days a week. I also don't think I could come up with enough ideas to blog about everyday.
ReplyDeletewell i do most my blog reading and writing while at work. Sooooo i guess i'm sacrificing work?
ReplyDeletei can live with that.
3 a week seems like the perfect amount
I admire you for assessing your situation and taking action. It's hard to give something up, but sometimes that's what's required if we want to use the time for another purpose. I hope you see an increase in the time you have available for writing.
ReplyDeleteboo I;ll miss you (its ok I forgive you :)
ReplyDeleteI use a very simple method. Writing at any time in my crazy household is difficult, so I turned back to the good old pen and paper. I took a notebook everywhere with me. I wrote a whole book in my children's fiction series during my tea breaks this way (I'm English...lol...) and the best part about it is when you type it from the notebook to the computer you get to edit it as you go. One less edit :)
ReplyDelete