Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Thoughts on Writing

This week of school starting has put into perspective just how little time I have to write. With kids, their after school activities and my volunteering for every activity under the sun, I realize I need to give myself some time to do what I like. Here are my suggestions:

Set aside a time. I give myself the hour after I drop the kids off at school to work on my writing projects. No housework, no bills, no yard work. I avoid answering the phone if I can. I put on my favorite music, pop open the laptop and try to write. I don't always use the whole hour, but it's there if I need it.

Don't worry about progress. Some days are better for writing then others. Some days the muse is with me and I whip out a good two or three pages. Other days its simply working on an outline. And yet others it's all editing (which I dread like I dread taxes). Don't worry about word count, sometimes just thinking about your novel or short story is all that you need to do that day, it's still should count as a good day's progress.

Make sure you actually get to write! This is my big tripping point. I spend so much time editing at this point in my novels (I mean 400,000+ words takes times to edit) that I don't always just get to write fresh stuff. So I have a few side projects that just allow me to WRITE. I may never use the stuff I write, but it lets my creative juices flow

Happy writing.

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