First, have a day job.
Don't just get any day job where you can show up at 9 am and leave by 5 pm, work 5 days a week and go home to have all the other hours of the day to yourself and your family. No!
Get yourself a day job that that respects your ability to get the job done, at whatever hours you need to do it. Make sure this is a job that really has a lot of work to do, and it gets really bottle-necked a couple of times a year so that you have about an hour and a half to yourself each day to eat, shower, wind down and get to bed before you start it all over again the next day. For weeks on end.
Then, make sure you work for two different departments so that those bottle-necks overlap each other, so in effect you get to have 4 or more each year, while everyone else has the typical boring two.
Next, make sure you register for those last 2 classes you need to get your license, and give yourself a really tight timeline because you want this stuff DONE within the bare minimum 8 weeks that you are allowed to finished the coursework and exams.
Make sure you are taking your turn to take the kids to sport practices, meets, races, swimming lessons, etc. and don't forget the grocery shopping!
All set? Great. Now decide you need to start a hobby: something you really want to do but will have to squeeze time in to do it because you are so booked. Write!
That's it. Mix well, then simmer for about a few months.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Thursday, April 11, 2013
So many story ideas....where do I start?
Since my last blog post, I've been very busy at my day job...which, incidentally, is also my night job since I am a tax accountant and we are in the final days of tax season!
I have managed to carve out 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there during each workday to jot down some writing project ideas. Now that the floodgates have been opened, I have had ideas pouring out of me like a waterfall! I became concerned at one point about how I was going to focus on a topic and really turn it into a completed writing project. I no longer have that concern.
My fingers are whizzing over the keyboard every time I open my Google Drive to write. It doesn't matter where I am, or how few minutes I have to spare for a little writing. I have managed to obliterate the writer's block I had in place for so many years, and now I just write about anything. The reason I am not worried about focusing on one project is simple: the variety keeps the gate open. As long as the gate is open, I can keep adding to my various projects. I remember a long time ago reading a post from one of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon, who described a similar way of working that she used, especially in her earlier days while still a university professor.
I started out with plenty of topics listed out on that first page. That was all I did for one writing session.
The next day, I had been thinking about the list, so I just added a few sentences to one of the ideas.
The next day, I added bits to another topic on the list. These bits have been growing each day.
Sometimes I will stick with the same topic for a few days in a row, sometimes I hop all over the place. Once, I started with the intent to work on one topic, felt hesitant that I didn't know what to add to it, and quickly transitioned to something else...which ended up getting the flow going so well that I developed ideas for and was able to go back and add to the original topic. I had some time, so I ended up writing quite a bit that day because the flow was so good!
Since I have been using this writing method for the last couple of weeks, I have seen my writing fluency improve, the word count increase, and the creativity abound. I am now confident that when one of my topics gets close enough to require more attention to editing/formatting/finalizing, it will be easy to focus on those chunks in between other things and still be able to complete the project.
I have managed to carve out 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there during each workday to jot down some writing project ideas. Now that the floodgates have been opened, I have had ideas pouring out of me like a waterfall! I became concerned at one point about how I was going to focus on a topic and really turn it into a completed writing project. I no longer have that concern.
My fingers are whizzing over the keyboard every time I open my Google Drive to write. It doesn't matter where I am, or how few minutes I have to spare for a little writing. I have managed to obliterate the writer's block I had in place for so many years, and now I just write about anything. The reason I am not worried about focusing on one project is simple: the variety keeps the gate open. As long as the gate is open, I can keep adding to my various projects. I remember a long time ago reading a post from one of my favorite authors, Diana Gabaldon, who described a similar way of working that she used, especially in her earlier days while still a university professor.
I started out with plenty of topics listed out on that first page. That was all I did for one writing session.
The next day, I had been thinking about the list, so I just added a few sentences to one of the ideas.
The next day, I added bits to another topic on the list. These bits have been growing each day.
Sometimes I will stick with the same topic for a few days in a row, sometimes I hop all over the place. Once, I started with the intent to work on one topic, felt hesitant that I didn't know what to add to it, and quickly transitioned to something else...which ended up getting the flow going so well that I developed ideas for and was able to go back and add to the original topic. I had some time, so I ended up writing quite a bit that day because the flow was so good!
Since I have been using this writing method for the last couple of weeks, I have seen my writing fluency improve, the word count increase, and the creativity abound. I am now confident that when one of my topics gets close enough to require more attention to editing/formatting/finalizing, it will be easy to focus on those chunks in between other things and still be able to complete the project.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Ah...ah....Haiku! Bless you.
Once I get my brain in "writing mode", I don't want to leave! So, I end up spending a lot of time reading writer's blogs and then writing my own stuff offline. Tax season is getting pretty busy around here, so I'm having to keep my writing practice time to a minimum to stay on schedule.
In order to keep it short without skipping my practice the last couple of days, I have been trying to sneeze out a couple of haiku poems per session. It's quite obvious to me that I am writing what's on the surface of my mind at the time. That means I'm writing about taxes, cranky clients, and my yoga class. My poems may not be all that creative, but they have entertained me in the moment.
Just for kicks, I'll share a few here with you:
Only a little over a week left before I have a normal workday again and I can devote a lot more time to my own writing projects. Until then, Haiku!
In order to keep it short without skipping my practice the last couple of days, I have been trying to sneeze out a couple of haiku poems per session. It's quite obvious to me that I am writing what's on the surface of my mind at the time. That means I'm writing about taxes, cranky clients, and my yoga class. My poems may not be all that creative, but they have entertained me in the moment.
Just for kicks, I'll share a few here with you:
Pink cherry blossoms
Missing festival again
Blame the tax season.
When I make more than
you pay in taxes, then you
can complain to me.
Hot, humid, dripping
sweat. Focus, inhale, exhale.
Ahhhh, savasana!
Live at the Met in
background. Working Saturday.
Just love tax season.
Bright sunny window
Teasing birds fly by and then
computer beckons.
Trying to focus
On work, but having trouble
I just want to write!
Don’t you try to be
something you’re not for money.
Just follow your dreams!
Only a little over a week left before I have a normal workday again and I can devote a lot more time to my own writing projects. Until then, Haiku!
Monday, April 1, 2013
Writing progress over Easter weekend
Quick update of my progress the last couple of days:
* Wrote down quite a few ideas for both fiction and non-fiction book topics
* Expanded a little on one of the non-fiction ideas
* Wrote some haiku
* Completed my 90 day Bikram yoga goal
* Spent all day Easter Sunday hanging out with the family: making homemade egg-shaped pizzas, took a nap, had a Game of Thrones marathon (sort-of) with my husband since we had the free cable channel for the weekend. (Now he'll want to pay for it so he can watch the new season!)
Ok, those last two have nothing to do with writing; directly anyway. However, if it weren't for my focus and dedication to my yoga goal, I may not be considering my writing goal right now, since I am in the middle of busy tax season at work. And, the down time on Sunday will help me to recharge since there are still a couple of crazy weeks left for tax season. I did miss writing yesterday, though, so I'll make it up by working a little longer on my offline writing projects this week.
I must be insane because I am also finishing 2 classes so that I can get my license in this state. So busy! Oddly enough, having so many irons in the fire actually makes it easier because when I get tired/frustrated/bored with one project, I can switch over to another and feel refreshed because I'm not working on the same thing.
Back to work!
* Wrote down quite a few ideas for both fiction and non-fiction book topics
* Expanded a little on one of the non-fiction ideas
* Wrote some haiku
* Completed my 90 day Bikram yoga goal
* Spent all day Easter Sunday hanging out with the family: making homemade egg-shaped pizzas, took a nap, had a Game of Thrones marathon (sort-of) with my husband since we had the free cable channel for the weekend. (Now he'll want to pay for it so he can watch the new season!)
Ok, those last two have nothing to do with writing; directly anyway. However, if it weren't for my focus and dedication to my yoga goal, I may not be considering my writing goal right now, since I am in the middle of busy tax season at work. And, the down time on Sunday will help me to recharge since there are still a couple of crazy weeks left for tax season. I did miss writing yesterday, though, so I'll make it up by working a little longer on my offline writing projects this week.
I must be insane because I am also finishing 2 classes so that I can get my license in this state. So busy! Oddly enough, having so many irons in the fire actually makes it easier because when I get tired/frustrated/bored with one project, I can switch over to another and feel refreshed because I'm not working on the same thing.
Back to work!
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