Monday, September 14, 2015

Making Time to Write

When I first moved to Small Town, Tennessee, I thought I would have more time to write. In Chicago, I was distracted not just by my work but also by bike rides along the lakefront, free admission days at the museums, cheap tickets to plays, and neighborhood festivals.

In Small Town, on the other hand, there isn't much to do, unless you enjoy hanging out at Wal-Mart or watching sports. Many of my students are athletes, and on game days it seems like the whole town turns out to watch them play. I have about as much interest in sports as the Kardashians and the Duggars do in staying away from the cameras.

However, as I stated in my previous post, there is the pressure to accept at least a few of the social invitations that have been extended to me, which takes up a lot of time that I'd rather spend writing. There's also the fact that the classes I'm teaching are significantly larger than the ones I taught at other schools, which means I have to spend more time grading papers and answering e-mails from students who ask questions like, "Is it really necessary to buy the books for this class? Couldn't I just watch the film versions?" (I'm not making that up) or "Sorry I was absent for the last six classes. Did I miss anything?" (I wish I was making that up)

So unfortunately, I find myself with even less time to write than I did before. I still feel the urge to work on my manuscripts, which have been neglected for months due to my completion of my dissertation and my move to Tennessee. Every time I look at my unopened journal or glance at the files marked "Novel" in my computer, I feel tempted to drop everything else I'm working on and write. Grading papers and answering e-mails make me wish I was doing something more interesting, like pulling out every hair in my head. Writing fiction and creative nonfiction makes me happy.

I've read about other writers who make time to write by writing during their lunch breaks or by getting up early. Others give up activities like constant Facebook updates or television. So I've decided that I need to follow their example, or I'll never finish my manuscripts, let alone get the chance to publish them.

So I've realized that there are some things I need to limit, like my Law and Order marathons or my long drives to bigger cities when I feel claustrophobic in Small Town. I also need to discipline myself to stop checking my e-mail or watching YouTube videos every time I sit down at my computer.

I always felt contemptuous of writers like E.L. James, who published novels even though their writing was not very good. But they're still ahead of me, because they made the time to write, in spite of everything else that was going on in their lives. (On the other hand, I hope no one will think I'm mean if I say that I'd rather be unpublished for the rest of my life or be trapped in an elevator with the Kardashians AND the Duggars for an hour than write like E.L. James.)

What about you? How do you make time to write? That is, what kinds of things do you sacrifice or limit your time on, in order to have the time to write?

12 comments:

  1. Babe!!! I hear ya on all fronts. "I write every day." Ahhh come on with that. Nah. And I love how you're going through what you could change and make some room in there. I take one day, maybe two, to write per week because I work full time and am on-call. I generally only do one chapter a week. Sometimes I skip a week. But the point is that you don't keep distancing yourself because the rope to climb back up is way harder the further down you are. If the kardashians and duggars have enough time to do interviews and selfies as they're trying to stay "normal", then by all rights you have enough time to do writing. Even if it's a few paragraphs!

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    1. Hi Tammy,
      I wish I could write every day, but it's just not possible; sometimes, after I've spent hours grading papers, the last thing I want to do is write another word, even if it's for my manuscripts. I think one chapter a week is very impressive; I need to make time to write more pages each week too. As far as the Duggars go, I feel like it's only a matter of time before one or more of the daughters publishes her own "book" of selfies like Kim Kardashian did.

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  2. Isn't that the question? When do I find time to write? For me, it happens before the kids are up and after the school day is done...if I have enough brain left. Which I usually don't. Occasionally the hubby takes the kids out at night and I get an evening to myself. We all have times we're most productive creatively. I think the key is knowing when that time is for you and figuring out how to leverage it for the most bang.

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    1. Hi Crystal,
      You're right about finding the time when we're most productive; I'd say nighttime is when I'm least productive, because I don't like to stay up late and end up falling asleep. So it's easier for me to wake up early and write, which is one of the reasons I often write in coffee shops; it gives me an excuse to drink coffee. :)

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    2. PLUS no one is going to bother you first thing in the morning because they don't have their brains turned on yet. ;)

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  3. I don't really have much of a social life, so that's why I find time to write:) I don't blame you for driving to a bigger city every now and then. I started out writing a few minutes here and a few minutes there. You don't have to spend hours writing. Start small, with maybe 15 minutes of writing a day. If you write one word, that's fine. But at least you are getting in the habit of writing. Don't write when you are super stressed. It never works for me, but maybe you're different. Just don't give up. You are welcome to email me if you need more encouragement.

    Thank you so much for buying my book. It means a lot! I know you don't have a lot of money to splurge. I really hope you like it. If not . . . let me know, maybe I can refund you:)

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    1. Hi Murees,
      You're welcome! And no way will I let you refund the money; I'm sure the book is great.
      I read somewhere that if you just write one page a day, you'll have a novel in a year. And it doesn't take too long to write that page, not usually.
      Even though I dislike driving, the long drives to bigger cities are scenic due to the mountains in Tennessee, which are beautiful.

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  4. I guess it depends on what I'm writing. When a story really grabs me, it isn't if I have time to write, it's if I have time to do the dishes, wash the floors, fold five baskets of laundry, shower...blow dry my hair. You know, all that stuff that usually fills my time. When I'm IN a story, the drive to write is all-consuming, but it isn't meant to last. So when the story lets me go, I watch marathons of Law & Order (SUV is my show) and catch up on my cleaning and showering, among other things. The trick is to enjoy the writing time as much as the downtime and not worry about whether you're neglecting the other.

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  5. I guess it depends on what I'm writing. When a story really grabs me, it isn't if I have time to write, it's if I have time to do the dishes, wash the floors, fold five baskets of laundry, shower...blow dry my hair. You know, all that stuff that usually fills my time. When I'm IN a story, the drive to write is all-consuming, but it isn't meant to last. So when the story lets me go, I watch marathons of Law & Order (SUV is my show) and catch up on my cleaning and showering, among other things. The trick is to enjoy the writing time as much as the downtime and not worry about whether you're neglecting the other.

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    1. Hi Emily,
      I miss Elliot Stabler on that show; I wish they would bring him back for at least one more episode to give him a more satisfying exit. I like the original Law and Order best, especially because of Detective Briscoe and Jack McCoy.
      The drive to write can definitely be all-consuming; it makes it easier to immerse myself in the world I created. But you're right that it doesn't last; if it did, we wouldn't have time for anything else.

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  6. My trouble is that finding time to write every day is so easy when I'm drafting a new story, especially because I draft with paper and pen. I can scribble anywhere! Then, finding time to type up the story isn't difficult either, because that feels like work. Look! I typed up three notebook sheets today, go me!
    But then, the editing. Ah, the editing... When the real thorny issues of plot and research and voice have to be addressed. That's when I start procrastinating... And suddenly there's no time, between work and family and chores and books to read and knitting and blogging and emails. Yea, right. I guess the best thing to do is start small -- just 15 minutes per day. At least it's a beginning...

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  7. I hear you. I'm, in fact, struggling with this right now. I get up early to write, but here I am checking blogs and going on Facebook. But I usually do get in 20 minutes per morning. So far, that hasn't happened this week. And this weekend I'm attending my critique group's writing retreat, but I'll have to do grading and planning more than writing and revising. There's always summer....

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