Writing time for those with no time

I read writing blogs. I can’t imagine a writer who doesn’t read writing blogs from time to time. I get linked to a lot of blogs about time management. It makes sense, I don’t have much in the way of time and I am always interested in how other people handle lack of time.

But here is the thing: the blogs always start off ‘I have a supportive partner who works, so I can stay at home and make up these worlds.

That’s awesome and all, but how does that help the rest of us with time management?

I have a supportive partner that works outside of the house. I work outside of the house, as does my retired mother. Between the three of us we have six paying jobs. My mother and I also write and have farm work. My longest week in 2015 was 28 days straight through, with those work days being between 8 and 16 hours long.

I’m not saying that to make you feel bad for me, I’m just trying to point out that for me it isn’t about balancing time promotion and writing. I have finite time to do both. Super finite time.

These are the things I do to keep finite time from turning into no time.

1)Keep yourself healthy: Those of you who know me know I had a lie altering injury in 1985. I’ve been in and out of Physical therapy since then. A half an hour a day of stretching, strengthening, ti chi and meditation keep me upright and walking. They also give you a half an hour of plotting.

2) Use the time you have: if it is five minutes use that five minutes. I keep a notebook with me to write down ideas. I tried a mini recorder, but I found myself not listening to what I recorded. I’ve never liked my recorded voice.

3) meditate: yeah, I mentioned it in point one, but let me explain. When most people I know hear me say ‘meditate’ then think I mean ‘sit still and empty your head’ when I mean exactly the opposite. Most of my meditation is done moving and all of my meditation is done thinking. I may start off by thinking “how many zombie novels end up in sporting arenas” (by the way I have no idea the answer to that question) or even “Where does my character go from here” then let your mind go.

4) schedule time: if you schedule 15 min spend that time at your computer (or paper or whatever) if you write five words in that time that is a win.

5) don’t forget to recreate: Really. We all need people in our lives. We all need to do fun things. Once a month I spend an evening out with friends. We eat Chinese, go to a comic shop and watch a movie.

6) don’t beat yourself up: we are all human and life likes to laugh at us. If you can’t get to your computer (or you sit there and you don’t get your five words down) let it go. You can’t control the past, you can only control the future.

This last thing has nothing to do with time management, but always try to have fun!

Shooting Low

I signed up for a mini-nano. The stated goal is 250 words a day. I know that the writers reading this blog are thinking something along the lines of ‘that’s it?’

But it is November and shooting low is the best I can do. I travel for work in November and when I travel for work I’m on the go from 7:30 am to about 11 pm, that doesn’t leave time for a real stab at nano.

 

The past few months I’ve been pushing hard both as a writer and as a person. I’ve finished the final edits on the novel during a month that I worked 29 days straight. I’ve worked my way right into writers block.

It happens from time to time. You can see the characters and maybe even the plot, but you can’t get it to move onto the page.

If I push hard for a long time when I stop, I stop dead.

For the past few days I’ve been looking at a blinking cursor, trying to wish the ideas out of my head and onto the paper. Over the years I’ve learned that to re-start myself I need to start slow and shoot low.

So for the next month I’m going to be shooting low. Hopeing that low word count will get me back in the habbit of meating goals in my extreamly limited free time.

How about you? How do you get back in the swing of things after time away?

Short or Long?

I have conversations about this pretty often.  I write a lot of short stories, some of them are linked.  I just finished a four story series for my publisher.  I don’t write many novels.  I guess that makes me an oddity. 

My friends often point to the novel I sold and say, “Look that proves you can write a novel.”

I’ve known I can write a novel for a long time, I just don’t like writing them.  I don’t write very quickly and to write a whole novel I have to set aside everything else I want to do.  I know that sounds selfish.

I take my writing very seriously; I may spend months researching for a short story.  I’ve spent a lot of time reading about the last few years of the NHA and the transfer to the NHL, and the shift in goalie styles (until 1918 goalies were not allowed to leave their feet to make a save) and I can tell you how ice was resurfaced before the Zamboni.  So it’s not a lack of seriousness that keeps me from writing novels. 

Like every writer I know, I am compelled to write.  I don’t feel like I have a choice in it, but at this point I don’t see myself making a living at writing.  So writing is just a very important hobby of mine.  That isn’t to say I don’t get paid for my shorts, I do, and I will be paid for my upcoming novel as well.   

But will I write another novel soon?

Probably not. 

Since this is a hobby what I do should be fun.  I don’t find novels fun.  Maybe someday I will change my mind.  Maybe not.  I can’t know the future.

Do you like to write long pieces, or short pieces?