Time management

Discussion in 'General Writing' started by Writer's Coin, Jun 4, 2008.

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  1. darkriver

    darkriver Member

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    Not enough for both these days. I have allowed myself one hour a day for writing. Even if I get 5 sentences out its better then none.
     
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  2. Laurin Kelly

    Laurin Kelly Contributor Contributor

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    Writing really depends - when I was working on a short story submission with a hard deadline recently, I wrote nearly every day for 1-2 hours. With my novels with no external deadline, it's more like an hour or so 2-3 times a week. I also write more in the winter because I don't have outdoorsy activities like running and hiking distracting me.

    I usually read every day though - sometimes for only a half hour before I go to bed, but if I've just sunk my teeth into a new book I can easily read for an entire evening straight.
     
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  3. Walking Dog

    Walking Dog Active Member

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    I have a day job. I read up to two hours in bed before turning out the light. I write up to two hours before going to bed. It's about half and half with me.
     
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  4. Moon

    Moon Contributor Contributor

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    Good question. In my opinion, its most certainly not enough on both ends. Living in one of the busiest cities in the world doesn't allow for too much time to oneself, sadly. I do squeeze in some reading on my commute. That is, if I can find a seat. >_>

    Writing is another thing that takes time, obviously. While writing on my beloved series is slow, I keep myself warmed up by writing "flash poetry" with tricky word-play as I find it fun. Keeps me sharp too.

    But really.....I could do both more than I do now. When I become a millionaire I'll have more time. :bigcool: :bigtongue:
     
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  5. GlitterRain7

    GlitterRain7 Galaxy Girl Contributor

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    I used to read a bunch when I was young (late elementary, middle school). Then for some reason I just quit reading for the most part. The idea for starting a novel came a few years after I fell out of reading. As of right now I don't read nearly enough but I think my writing habits are fairly good (until I get distracted by video games :meh:) But my writing habits usually consist of writing a chapter for a few days, taking a break for a few days to gather my thoughts for the next chapter, then moving to the next chapter. And sometimes this fluctuates, depending on if I'm stuck on something or mentally not in the mood to write.
     
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  6. Jupie

    Jupie Senior Member

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    Somehow this year I've managed to almost finish three books. Since it's been almost exactly a year I counted the word length of all three and they amount to 310k, so that's roughly what I've managed to do in that time. It's a lot more than I ever thought possible with a day job and a busy social life, but I managed it somehow. Sadly, I don't do nearly enough reading. I try and do at least an hour a day on the bus but I'm sure I've only gotten through about twelve books since January. That's because of the writing, but I plan to make more time as I'm bound to run out of ideas sooner or later!
     
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  7. anitaex100

    anitaex100 Member

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    You and I have a similar history when it comes to writing, Cristina!
     
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  8. anitaex100

    anitaex100 Member

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    Three books in a year! Congratulations! Did the editing process take a lot of your time or was it a breeze?
     
  9. Cristina G

    Cristina G New Member

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    Anitaex100 - Again, I am not alone then. I am not sure if I should rejoice if we have a similar story. Nevertheless, I am thrilled to have met so many amazing people passionate about writing. Cheers.
     
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  10. PiP

    PiP Contributor Contributor

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    Reading
    It really depends on how you quantify reading: Time or Quality. My aim is to read quality content or study rather than say I am going to read for xx hours per day. My passion is poetry rather than prose so I don't tend to read much fiction unless I am asked to beta read.

    I'd like to have more of my work published so I need to up my game.

    Writing

    Although I write every day I set myself specific goals otherwise I just procrastinate . Earlier this year I completed NaPoWriMo. The discipline of writing 30 poems in 30 days did actually help and I noticed a marked improvement in my poetry (at least I thought there was a marked improvement).

    @anitaex100 when you say you read for 2hrs per day is it purely fiction and do you read the same genre as you write?
     
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  11. anitaex100

    anitaex100 Member

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    Mostly fiction, but I do make it a point to include poetry in my reading every day. As for writing, I'm terrible at writing poetry.
    I have tried and the results are disastrous or comical. My poetry is like my singing something that I do in the shower alone.
     
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  12. Trish

    Trish Damned if I do and damned if I don't Contributor

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    I don't read as often as I should, or want to. As far as writing, some days I never write a single word, other days I do nothing but write for 10 hours a day. My record is 15 hours in one day. Depends on how things are going for me at that point in what I'm writing.
     
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  13. Masked Mole

    Masked Mole Senior Member

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    My combined time is around two hours a day if I average out the year. More time is spent reading than writing. I find it difficult to read fiction when I'm working on a story, because I want to have only one plot in my head. I don't feel the need to write every day, but when I'm confident about an idea I don't procrastinate.
     
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  14. anitaex100

    anitaex100 Member

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    Ten or fifteen hours I'm impressed. I can't imagine sitting that long.
     
  15. Jupie

    Jupie Senior Member

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    Thank you :). I guess the catch to what I've said is I've not done nearly enough in the editing department. Because I wrote the first two books in a very short space of time (probably 9 weeks one, 10 weeks the other) I only spent a few days proofreading and revising them on probably a basic level. So I dealt with the spelling errors etc but not so much the structural problems. As a result with those books they're very much incomplete and in need of a lot of changes but whether I go back to them or not I'm not decided. They both had elements I liked but it might be that they served their purpose and as a platform for hopefully better stories in the future.

    The latest book I'm writing though I started in February and there's still a little more to go. I'm planning a sequel as well, so I think it's my best work so far and I'd really like to do this one a lot more justice. I've already gone back and included a few more chapters at the beginning and will probably do a lot more revising / structural edits to make it a stronger piece. Because I don't spend a lot of time planning I think that's why I've written so much but this year I might slow down and focus more on one or two projects. I'd also like to read more as well.

    It's all good, though. So long as we are doing something we're making progress!
     
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  16. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I am doing a LOT more reading than writing these days. In fact, I've always got several books to read that are on the go. I read lots of nonfiction, and am catching up on fiction I always meant to read, or fiction that other people have recommended to me.

    When I was at work on my novel—which took me 5 years to write the first draft—I didn't read much at all. I was so absorbed in writing the novel that I didn't want to distract myself with other people's writing. I wrote for several hours a day—every day—usually first thing in the morning. I felt very annoyed at having to stop to go to work or deal with other things. I just wanted to get back to writing.

    I guess I had the fantasy that I would always be that immersed in writing. However, once I finished the first draft and started editing, my writing hours dropped off considerably. I love editing, don't get me wrong, but it's not as intense an experience as writing a first draft. I confess to getting more disconnected from writing as time went on. Now I'm kind of concerned that my impulse to write has died off. I need to resurrect it.

    Meanwhile I'm doing lots of reading.
     
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  17. Reollun

    Reollun Active Member

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    I don't have a specific schedule for reading, much less writing, but the idea of being consistent about it has always been attractive to me. Most of the time, I am doing a lot more reading than writing, which is not that good, I suppose. I almost never read other books and works as an inspiration for my own, though a good writer will always strive to learn from others, but not at the expense of his creativity.

    Since I've been working as a part time journalist for past several months, writing is my job as much it is a passion. While entirely unrelated with my work, I found it had helped me to be more consistent and regular with my writing.

    Being a night owl, I am conducting most of my work at night, both writing and reading, which is something I tried to change without success. What I observed is that I spend a lot of time 'warming up' (which means 'staring up at the screen and typing a sentence here and then' in my vocabulary) and then I go on to do most of the work in just two hours or sometimes even less.

    Some days I dedicate entirely to reading, and avoid doing both at the same time.
     
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  18. DLL333

    DLL333 Member

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    I'm finding it more and more difficult lately to sync up my inspiration with my limited window of writing time. I usually only have the time to write at night after my kids are asleep, and by that time I'm usually exhausted and have a lot of trouble exerting more mental energy to write. I want to, I want to get things done, but usually when I have a good idea or something that will fit well into an existing piece, I write a snippet of it into a word doc on my phone and can't flesh it out at that moment.

    Does anyone relate, and are there any ways you've found to sort of break that cycle? Is it just as simple as coffee at night?
     
  19. Walking Dog

    Walking Dog Active Member

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    I have short time for writing. I compensate by writing only what I enjoy. Notice how you felt writing your question on this forum. Did you enjoy writing it? Since my time is short, most of my writing is on forums and YouTube. I can spend thirty minutes on a single post or a single comment. I'm passionate about some subjects and either write to promote, or write to defend. It's easy to write about that which you are passionate. When I retire, I will develop a work routine for a novel. If I'm not dead when I'm retired.
     
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  20. birdspoon

    birdspoon Member

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    I read some non-fiction at night. Though rarely do I get to read a lot in one sitting. I do most of my writing during the night as well. So I guess its a trade off, one night I get to read, the next I get to write. Its a balancing act.
     
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  21. peachalulu

    peachalulu Member Reviewer Contributor

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    I've been really cracking down on my writing lately and staying away from the internet & movies in order not to sabotage my progress. My personal life has been up and down the last few years which has really effected my writing habits. But I'm on a good stretch now, discipline helps, and I'm already on Chapter 10 of my first draft. I think I do about four hours. And for me making it a daily habit actually stops a lot of those what-next? moments. As for my reading - I'm a binge reader. I read a small stack and then like a cobra digest for weeks.
     
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  22. deadrats

    deadrats Contributor Contributor

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    I don't usually time myself reading or writing. Those are just things I do a lot. It would actually be really sad probably if I added up all my writing time. I write far more often than one would think given my success rate. I don't see anything wrong with reading all the time or reading a lot. I probably read more than I write, but I'm probably a better writer for it.
     
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  23. Lifeline

    Lifeline South. Supporter Contributor

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    Difficult to say, as 'reading' is not the only research I do. Every comment, every interaction in RL is something that I examine with an eye on my story. Critiquing itself is also going on, more or less continually. All of the above advance the craft, or that's what I hope, so I'll focus on the spirit of the question and say...

    ratio reading/critiquing/writing:
    • Reading: 1/10th
    • Critiquing: 6/10th
    • Writing: 3/10th
    Yes, it seems as if the ratio is not good, but I am satisfied with it :) How much of this is broken up in each day? Depends on the day. There are 3 days/week where I have a huge junk taken out by a hobby, and I read on the train. Writing/critiquing is impossible on these days.
     
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  24. Fiender_

    Fiender_ Active Member

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    I think I read plenty; on average I finish a book a week. Varies of course, depending which books I happen to have picked up. I'll finish good books much faster than "so-so" books, and books that aren't even "so-so" get put down.

    Writing...I used to write relatively quick, I swear. But, between querying for agents (which hasn't been going spectacularly) and other life distractions, my current new manuscript hasn't gotten particularly far.
     
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  25. KevinMcCormack

    KevinMcCormack Senior Member

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    I found I can't balance per se.

    I had to decide whether writing was more important than other pursuits, and when it was, I dropped some other activities.

    I had to do some time consuming analysis about my daily/weekly/yearly schedules. Questions like:

    * am I really going to learn that new instrument (banjo?) or is writing more important? (answer: no) Sold the banjo.
    * am I really going to take the family sailing as much as is worth it to maintain a 45 year old boat? (answer: no) Sold the boat.
    * do I want those promotions at work so much that it's worth working extra hours? (answer: no) Stopped working unpaid overtime
    * what time of day do I write best? (answer: mornings, when it's quieter) - getting up early sounds like a more efficient option than staying up late
    * do I want to reduce my exercise/fitness/training time to write more (answer: no) - no change here
    * am I willing to tell my family that I will no longer to household chores, maintenance, repairs, yardwork, cooking, grocery shopping &c (answer; no) - note: this is probably my largest daily block outside work and commuting (3hs on bus) - no change here

    End result: I have juggled my schedule to get up at 5am M-F, write for two hours in total peace, then head to work. Plus more on the weekends, again, getting up at five ish. With that type of schedule, I can crank out maybe 20 hours per week of writing during the winter. Less in summer. At a conservative pace of 100 words/hour, this is well over 100,000 words in a year, which is my goal at the moment.

    I have management training, and there's a 'secret' to how to be come highly productive: learn how to say no. Learn what unproductive activities are crowding out the productive ones. I decided to put my money where my mouth was, where writing was concerned. It took some objective analysis and a calendar and a spreadsheet to come to the conclusion that I can't do everything, so if I *really* want to write, I have to sacrifice some other activities. I treat it as an investment. Writing has the potential to generate passive income, which means the work I do now will pay me with free time later, if it works out.
     
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