the same way any writer does: wherever/whenever/however possible! as much as you can... there are no rules 'n regs for this stuff... no right or wrong way/time/amount... only whatever works for you... and routines don't work for everyone... some lives are too complicated to keep to a routine, so simply doing it whenever/wherever/however you can is the best you can do...
I thank you everyone for the advice, suggestions, tips, etc. I'm willing to make a strategic sacrifice so I can continue onwards with my story. I haven't written much of it yet but I sense that I have the urgency to write this story now. If I delay on writing it because of my sophisticated school and work schedules, I may lose that thrill I'm getting from this story I have envisioned over the last few weeks. Right now, it would be very hard to find a time niche for me to rely on for reading and writing. However, I think I've decided to cut a class for the semester. I'm cutting it out of my schedule because of this tuition rate thing. It'd be smarter to take an extra class in the spring versus taking that same class this fall. I'd still be on course to graduate by summer 2011. I think that shall allow me to write this story while I have great passion to do so. So that's great news and makes this fall a little bit more relaxing! Now I'll have four-and-a-half solid months to work on my story on a daily basis (maybe minus a day or two...Mondays are my busiest days by far). Yay!
It is a book/novel. Not a short story. Perhaps if I treated my novel as a 'class' that I would've had, I can make some real ground work on it nearly every day. If I have from the beginning of Septemember to mid-January (13 credits) before school really ramps up in the spring (18 credits), I can get a lot done. Perhaps I'll finish my first draft by then and start revising and all. Do you think my approach is good?
Yeah, definitely. Get all the grundge work done, then take your time revising and editing. Hope your story goes well T1
Commuting is a good time to get in reading and writing - i used to get the train to uni and it took about an hour so instead of wasting the time looking out of the window I worked on what was important. Getting the need to do stuff out of the way first is always best - do the essay etc while its all still fresh in your mind and clear it away, so that you dont have to worry about the deadline coz its just sittting there ready to go - therefore you can spend more time on you personal writing. Basically you can fit it in around anything and everything, if you want to that is. You dont need to kick anything out of your schedule. I always carry a notebook and even though Im not meant to, if work is dead then Ill write at work. Its concealable enough and I just keep telling myself that once ive written that fab book - i wont have to work anymore so I can spend more time doing the all important reading and writing!
As litchickuk said: commuting is great for reading/writing! No matter where I go, I always take a book with me. And a notepad. If I'm standing in line somewhere, I can read I also read on the toilet. And right before I go to bed. As for writing: try to write at least 300 words a day, no matter how good or bad they are. It will keep you going and maybe you can treat it as an assignment so that you don't procrastinate?
I writing is one more chore to add to your burden, you probably going too fail. If writing is the breath of life that you need, crave and cling onto. If you love it like manic stalker. If it is what you mind is always working on. If you cant help yourself filling each paper you come across with scribbles on the marginal with fragments of story... The you will be fine. You will find the time, hours and hours of it each week. But if you don't posses that insane drive for writing... well... good luck. Ps: As a practical foot note. Get a physical paper notebook. If you got tons of stuff hanging over you writing at the computer tend to invite distractions.
That depends. I work full-time and then spend a lot of 'free time' playing music. I spent a lot of time writing was when I was just out of Uni. I guess it took a good 6-7 months of frantic work to write the first draft of my would-be-book. The editing came afterwards and (due to lack of commitment & life) took a long time, and was pretty much on and off. Research, very little. I guess reading a lot is my kinda research.
My time is limited, where my resources are broad. To give myself time to write, I normally do my homework a few hours before my class start (I go inside the school's library). Then, the spare time gives me more time to write. I often stay up late at night to write, because I don't often need sleep (I sleep for about 6 hours per day, which is normal for me). On big projects like final exams and research papers, I would put my stories to the side and work on it until my final exam or research paper is complted. I have finales this coming Monday, and I have about 4 days to study. This gives me enough time to study during the weekend (which I start my stuying on Sundays because my readings for the test is fairly short). On Fridays and Saturdays, I could work on my book those two days, while Sunday would be the day of study time. That's how I manage my time. I hope this kind of help you a little bit, and wish you the best on managing your writing and school time.
My tip is to use a computer without Internet connection. Yes internet can be great to 'quickly' look something up, but before you know it, you're also checking the news, your email, some helpfull forums (like this one) etc and you're writing time is up. Ever since I bought an old laptop, wich definatly can't handle Internet or any other games or distracting programs, I find that the time reserved for writing is actually spend writing. Luckily though I have a office job which allows me, during slow days where there is little work to do, time enough to do my research. I copy it all and send it to my email or print it out and bring it home with me.
yep it can be difficult when you are a working person or in study. And the problem is that writing ( until a publishing contract flies through your letterbox) doen't pay the bills. So it can be a balancing act. I work as a staff nurse and am also building up my own business and trying to go for my writing. I am just trying to go for all three. It is no good being a pennyless writer if you have got a family to feed but at the same time you need to concentrate on your writing. I am on a weeks holiday at the moment so it isn't an issue but usually it is not easy. I do like to get up early and get some writing done before I go to work.
I can make a living working one day a week, and still I feel I have too little time for my own projects. They're always huge, I work slowly and my obsessive perfectionism always sets the scope of things. If it's easy and quick, it can't be good. It would be nice if I could change that and spew out tons of work with all the time I have available, but my way of doing things is my way of doing things and it got me where I am with my profession, also. So, what's my point with this ramble? Perhaps that no matter how good we have it, we want more time for the things we like best, and that whatever work process that works best for us should be the one we stick to. Sometimes it just has to demand its rights.
I understand it is not productive to write in bed, but I find myself trying to do it quite frequently. I also understand it's not productive to write with the TV running, but here I am, still trying. I'm still a student, so sitting at a desk any time outside of class is like torture. However, I'm beginning to feel the magic of the desk might be productivity... Do any of you successfully stay awake while writing in bed? Are any of you masters of focus that can ignore a blaring TV? Or do you find your muse somewhere else?
I am out to bed to write, never in it. I write at my desk and I write usually in my head before I start coming with words.
I have a desk, but for some reason, I find myself unproductive there. I'm usually writing on my bed (not in it =P), sitting cross-legged and hunched over my screen and cringe-worthy angles. I get back-pains now because I do it so often. (I need to work on that...) I even have a chair at my desk that never gets any use.
My desk, unfortunately, is almost in the living room, where my roommate has the TV on nearly all the time. It's a bad place to write. So I write, usually, in my bedroom, which is so small that I sit on the edge of the bed with my laptop on a table I have set up for the purpose. We need to move to a bigger house, but financial issues make that impossible right now.
I sit in a chair somewhere with my laptop on my knee and with the TV or at least music on. I need some sort of noise and stuff or I just can't focus. People being around and making noise doesn't annoy me as much as it used to, and I can deal with most stuff. I can't really deal with writing in a messy environment though, that's one thing I really need: tidiness. But I often write best in bed/in front of the tv. I must be weird. I just like to be comfy and relaxed when I write.
I usually write at my computer desk with music on and sometimes the TV playing in the back ground if there is a good documentary playing. Something I can just listen to and not watch. Only for some for back ground noise. For some reason this seems to make me more productive than sitting in an empty room with nothing to distract me. I've also got a bit lucky before and caught a mistake in my project thanks to a documentary on a similar subject.
I'm writing at a wobbly little table in a corner of my kitchen, which works great for the creativity. No office-like chair, just an ordinary kitchen table chair in wood, which kind of force me to sit up straight, something I normally never do. no noise around be, preferably no people either, and absolutely no tv. (i don't even have a tv anymore.) only in rare occasions do I listen to music when I'm writing. normally it distracts me too much and I end up listening to it instead of writing.
I am able to write in my bed with music playing, but definetly not in frount of the TV. At least, not yet. When I write, or plan writing like I'm doing now, I am easily distrated by the TV, but not so much by music. That might just be because music is only audio, and the TV calls to me to look at it's visual. I do have a desk, but I rarely use it, since my chair has no backrest. Mostly I write sitting up on my bed with earphones blasting music into me. It's usualy quite productive, unless a good song comes on and have to sing along with it.
I have to agree with you . I cannot write in total silence. My desk is next to the TV in our room and so it is always on but on low sounds. I like to keep uptodate with News and some programms. I have never actually tried to write in total silence because it does not appeal to me for some reason. Ever since I was little I have always used either a radion as a baground noise whilst writing. I am not sure I would like total silence either because it means total isolation to me which is obviously not something I like or want to have.
I say write wherever you feel comfortable. I have been just as unproductive at my desk as anywhere else. In time you'll learn to write wherever you are. The important thing is to get words on the page. Every writer's process is different and you need to find what's right for you. Have you tried writing in a public setting like a coffee shop or a restaurant? Bars can be fun and can give you a lot of inspiration.
At my desk up in my loft/bedroom. I like it to be quiet, so no music or TV. Cup of tea and biscuits optional.
