Writing Is What it's All About - Scheduling Part 3

Are you struggling with the fact that you spend far more of your precious writing time doing other activities? Is your WIP sitting neglected, while your on-line 'cyberworld' is sucking the writing life out of you?

This is part three of a series of posts designed to help you get organized and get more out of your 'Writing Life'. Last week, I focused on harnessing all those on-line commitments. Today, let's focus on the real heart of the matter: creative writing.

Of all of the places that a schedule is needed, I have found that this is the area that benefits the most. It's a bit of a paradox, when you think about it. A love of writing is what brought most of us to this place in our lives, but oh, how quickly we have turned from our first love to court the promotional mistress.

I have scheduled three hours per day into my life to write and only write. I like writing in the afternoons, but you should choose whatever time of day feeds your creative muse best and fits into your schedule. This is working well for me during the summer, but obviously, I will need to make adjustments once school begins. (And that is coming very soon!) Of course, I often get so caught up in what I'm doing, I continue for longer that three hours, or pick up again in the evening, but at least I'm meeting that minimum.

As I said last week, I purposefully shut off my internet. In fact, I like to do my creative writing on my laptop at a different location rather than my office, usually the kitchen table, which is strange since my office chair is much comfier. However, I think it stems back to my days of writing at the kitchen table on my typewriter when my children were down for their naps. Whatever works, right? Just do it! I let the answering machine take the calls and I focus totally on writing. This is usually my current WIP, although I sometimes do my blog post for the next day here, too, if I don't get to it in the morning. (I normally try to fit that into my 'cyber' time.)

Daily writing is such a great habit to get into. I used to do most of my writing in big chunks, but I learned some things during my participation in NaNoWriMo last year that have really changed my habits. It really keeps you involved in your story and there is less time wasted trying to get back into it. Also, I feel so much more productive when I'm making progress on my next book. It refocuses my attention on why I'm doing all the promotion and marketing in the first place.

Have any of you struggled with finding time to 'just write'? How do you manage to fit writing into your busy life? 


Links to Part 1 & 2:
Writing is Work
All those On-Line Sites!