The best thing to do is to stick to a schedule. I'm pretty sure you have enough time to write everyday, but just don't think about it. Your downtime is when you can write (instead of watching TV, going for a walk, etc.). These are all good things to be doing, but if you want to start writing properly, these all take second place. Within reason, of course. People either stick to a daily word count or a daily time limit (for myself, I write enough everyday that I don't need a daily goal anymore. I used to, though, and that's a good way to begin). It's up to you which one you choose. I would suggest a time limit, however, as you say free time is limited. So that's a good starting point. If you can keep up writing daily, you are well on your way to developing discipline! Try to stick to it, but don't worry if you miss a day. As for Internet, turn it off, if you can. Even though you could turn it on again, you'd be surprised to find that you are still more motivated to work when it's off and you "can't" use it. Hope I've helped in some way.
...i don't have any routines other than sitting down and writing... ...i don't have to... i write whenever i have something to write about and keep on writing till it's finished... writing to me is like breathing... it's not something i have to plan or force myself to do... ...what do you mean by 'first starting up?'... do you mean with each project?... or back when i first started writing seriously?... and per hour/day/week, or what? ...in any case, i never keep count of how many words i write or how fast i write... i write for as many hours as it takes to finish something, whether it's in one day, or a month, or a year...
I'm one of those people who writes for a living, so a schedule is a must. If I don't meet deadlines, I don't get paid on time and the kids don't eat. So I get up and write for a couple hours. Then I can get dressed. Another couple hours. Then lunch. Then I write straight until dinner. I write 5000 words a day. If I meet that quota early, I edit for the rest of the day. Right now, I'm on a break. But in 5 minutes, it's back to writing (and not on the internet).
Well right now, I'm in a hobby-stage. I got material that needs to be finished and edited but it's going nowhere right now. Soon I will be making some bucks. But do I try to schedule myself. I always plan to write at least an hour a day so I don't forget. Hopefully I can finish a book instead of jumping to another project because I had some "idea". I can come up with a million stories, I just need to finish one first. So trying to force myself to write has been a major improvement to me. Over 4,000 words on my first e-book in progress. Woo!
Right now it's been when the mood strikes then I write. But I'm not sure I like basing something on mood. So right now I'm trying to set a goal for myself - ten pages a day. Don't know if it will happen but even if I don't get the full ten pages, I'm going to try and put something on paper, everyday. To make my time count I've eliminated t.v. - that's not for everyone - but axing a non essential show can help.
During the weekday, it's difficult for me to write. I just switched job positions, so my commute time is full of preparing for my day and making sure everything is on schedule. For a while there I was writing during my train commute, which was about 45 minutes every morning. On the weekend I normally try and write all morning, which ends up being until noon or one when I realize that I haven't eaten yet. I find that writing everyday helps keep everything moving properly, and I have less word block because of it. Speaking of which... I need to get back to it!! Sometimes reality jus takes over! Argh!
Haha! When I was 14 Twin Peaks was very essential. Maybe I'm getting older or just more picky nothing on tv seems very essential. Although I'm getting addicted to finding things on Youtube. After years of searching someone finally uploaded Turnabout a t.v. show I was looking for forever! It didn't come in very good but it was such fun to see it. I can lose hours on Youtube downloads.
kudos to you for having beaten the odds and gotten to the 'for a living' stage, leighann! what brand of writing supports your family?
I write books (and I blog a little, but that hardly pays the bills, LOL). Just over 2/3 of my income comes from non-fiction; the rest is from fiction.
what kind of non-fiction? does your publisher assign the topic, or do you have a free hand? and are you an 'expert' in the subjects you write about, or is research enough to do the trick? is your publisher one of the 'biggies' or an independent/niche house? sorry to sound like i'm grilling you, but it would be invaluable info for anyone who hopes to make a living as a writer... and i'm always on the lookout for successful examples like you, to give my mentees and clients hope... if you'd prefer not to provide the info in public, could you please email me?... and i'd love to be able to use your books as good examples, too, if you wouldn't mind giving me some titles... i know that might be seen as touting them, which isn't allowed here, but a pm or email would be much appreciated by myself and those i help, who'd benefit from knowing success is possible... much thanks! love and hugs, maia maia3maia@hotmail.com
Okay, some useful information. This is based entirely on my own experience, you understand. Other people may have had a different experience. I don't do assigned topics. I am an expert in my chosen fields, meaning I have either education and/or life experience. And by life experience, I don't mean I've read a few books. I really do believe that if you're going to make it in non-fiction, you absolutely must have some credentials. For example, I write about horses, cats, and dogs (under one pseudonym). I can discuss shows, health, behavior, and training. I have diplomas that cover most of these things (I am a licensed trainer and I studied as a vet tech) and experience in the rest. I don't write about reptiles because I don't have any relevant experience or education. I also write new age non-fiction (under a totally different pseudonym), and I have plenty of relevant life experience to back that up, including radio and television interviews (I'm never doing television again). If you want to be taken seriously as a non-fiction writer, you must be able to explain why you're qualified to explore your chosen topic. The "but I've read 5 books on the subject" line really isn't going to fly. As for the publisher... I think most authors will find themselves having to go with the smaller publishers at first. The big guys aren't all that interested in unproven authors. I had to start with niche. Most people will find that submitting to the big guys is a waste of time (and usually requires an agent) until you've shown you can sell. Here's the other thing I tell people about working with publishers: you MUST be willing to work with an editor. You WILL be edited. It's not an option. You can't opt out of the editing process. Even if you've worked with a freelance editor, an in-house editor will still invade your book. If you're married to the words you've written, it's not going to work. If you're not okay being told, "section C needs to go and section D need to be changed and section E needs to be more detailed," then you're only wasting your time. It's okay to fight against changes you don't believe in. It's not okay to dismiss everything the editor says out of hand. This is the problem a lot of unpublished writers have, at least in my experience. And here's where someone usually asks me "What about self-publishing?" I really can't say anything helpful there. I don't have the experience. I have recently started working on a series of really small books that would be suitable as e-books only. These I intend to self-publish. I just want to see how the whole process works. Will it be successful? I really have no idea. Fiction is a totally different animal.
I watched a program a while back about an author ( sorry forgot his name) who said that he wrote every day, no matter what was happening around him. He even wrote on family gathers such as Christmas day. He never had a day off, not even on day of his fathers funeral. It got me thinking whether my fellow forum members write every day no matter what? I had stopped writing. I just didn't feel up to it. The last thing I wrote was my brothers eulogy four months ago. I just couldn't find that place I go to in my head to find my inspiration. I had no 'happy place' I'm not one of those writers who can write no matter what personal upheaval is invading their life. Are you? Do you write...no matter what?
For the past year I've probably written something (a poem, character, scene, something for the RP scetion here, piece of a novel I'm working on etc.) evey day. It's not because I tell myself I have to write every day, it's just because I like writing a lot. For me writing can be either a hobby, a way to express myself, an escape from real life... anything really, so I don't see why I would not write everyday. If there will be a day or a week when I don't feel like writing I won't do it though.
same. sometimes i just don't write, sometimes i push myself to though because I wan to end a chapter.
No, I don't write everyday, but I try to. I suppose out of the seven days of the week, I write for about five of them (I take Sundays off because of personal beliefs). But if I actually counted writing something not at all to do with any projects I am currently working on, then I would say that I do indeed write every day, be that uni notes or whatever. But I think as long as you want to write and make every effort to do so almost every day, I see no problem.
Come hell or high water. Yeah, I do my best to get a good hour in each day- three is ideal, two is good, one is minimum. Unfortunately, due to a new job and general life upheaval, I've only been able to do the minimum this month; I barely get myself situated before it's time to head off to work. It's frustrating, but I'm pleased the habit I built over the summer has withstood the stress. It makes me think I can actually do this. The hour I spend working is, quite literally, the best hour of my day. My life is miserable (melodramatic, I know, it's just difficult right now)- I work seven days a week, live with my parents for the first time in five years, and honestly feel like I'm getting nowhere in life. I use my writing to give my life purpose, a direction in which to move. I'm able to latch to that hour, hold onto it, and realize that life won't always be so frustrating. Eventually my one hour of happiness will become twenty-four.
I don't write every day. Sometimes I don't write for weeks. I need to be in the mood for it, and I have found that when I force myself to write, the outcome is usually mediocre at best. Having said that, I only write fiction, no poetry or short stories, so I'm writing parts of a longer story, nothing you could start and finish in a day. When I write a chapter, I really need to dive into it. I effectively become part of the story, I create the characters and their actions, but I also observe them, and you need the right mind-set for that. I'm also very fussy about my style of writing. If or when I force myself to write, it just doesn't look right, it doesn't read right. For me it's quality, not quantity, and time isn't important.
I wish. When I'm interested in a project I can go strong for weeks - five pages a day, five days out of a week. Weekends are not my best writing times. I tend to veg out after grocery shopping. But in between I get a little stale and anxious. Right now I'm working on a ya novel. The first time I've attempted ya in years - the first chapter poured out in one day but that was weeks ago. I don't know why I stall out. I thought about keeping a diary to record my writing habits to see what gives.
Damn I wish I could. Currently I'm writing just short stories and when I begin to write it's okay. I write every day until I finish it. But when the story is finished I too can go for many days without writing. Maybe it's that "fear of blank page" or how do you call it, going on. I guess if I started a novel I would write at least 5 days a week, every week. At least until the final exams. But I think about stories and what could I do better every day, so that's a bit of a consolation haha. Joke aside, I'm planning to do most of the writing in summer, that's when I have the most free time.
I don't. If I'm writing, I need to be able to concentrate and write at least 2000 words in a session -- I need to complete the scene or the short story that I'm working on. I can never quite get it back if I'm interrupted before I get it out onto the page. Weekends are almost impossible for me to carve out any sort of time when I can be by myself to write. That leaves the weekdays, and although if I really made it a goal, I'm sure I could carve out some time each day, I just don't. It seems like I have so many other little things going on that I run out of time. By the time the kids are in bed and my husband is asleep, I'm too tired to write. I do, however, do something writing related almost every day. (Sometimes it's even checking a site like this and thinking about and responding to questions or thoughts about writing issues.) Sometimes it's reading a book about writing. Sometimes it's trying to find something to send out to my critique group (I usually send an excerpt of my novel draft or a short story I've written). Sometimes it's going through the pieces the other members of my critique group sent for critique. And sometimes it's reading a book that I think is roughly in the same genre/category as what I like to write. When I'm really lucky, I spend two or three days at a writing conference, and I get to spend the whole day devoted to writing-related things. I also will count my writing group meetings.
Would you still write the day a loved one died? Would you still write the day of their funeral? Would you sneak off during family gatherings to write? Those of you that do write every day. These questions are directed at you. Do you write every day...no matter what? I'm not trying to pry into your personal life, it's just when I was hit with a death, I could not write. Writing was the furthers thing from my mind. And I don't write on family gatherings. Family times are precious to me and they deserve my full attention.
