How many times have you promised to stop procrastinating and start writing? I certainly have had my share of promises. This time I am setting up a system so I can be accountable to myself.
I am no
longer saying that I will write when I have time. There will always be
something else that “needs” to be done.
I love to
play the piano, but it is difficult to carve out the time to practice. For the
last six years, I have been successful by keeping a time journal of every
minute I practice, with the goal of two hours at the ivories each day.
This
morning I started a similar schedule to keep track of the hours that I write. On
the lower level of my house, away from distractions, I have a large room in
which to work. In addition to my desktop computer, the room has lots of empty
wall space. I intend to start filling those walls with an organized system for
posting all the notes I have collected for themes, titles, personality
characteristics, conflicts, techniques to use, vignettes that I have written,
etc. I already have a huge box filled with these items as well as many computer
files. Presently, all my notes are thrown together with no system for
organization. My mind is unable to sort through and digest my ideas without a
system of organization. Hopefully, once these ideas are put in order, common
threads will evolve, and I can begin weaving the threads together into a book.
I spend a
great deal of time thinking about my writing, but I need do more than just
think, lest age overtake my ability to do so.
I’ve
written two blogs today and hope to also get started on my wall organization before
the sun sets. If anyone else out there has ideas about writing organization and
use of time, I would love to hear them.
Posts
Hi, Carol. I'm a writer, too...well, trying to be! (Finding time to write with a newborn is difficult.) I don't have any ideas about writing organization or use of time at the moment, but I look forward to reading yours! :)
ReplyDeleteI congratulate you for trying, Terri. I think it was when my kids were little that I started writing in earnest. Being able to write was my treat at the end of the day after the kids had been put to bed.
DeleteI was a stay-at-home mom and always looking for ways to make life fun and interesting for my boys. I wound up turning many of my parenting investigations into articles to share with others, publishing them in magazines and newspapers.
I don’t know how parents who work full time are able to manage.
Even if you only have time to right now to put your emotions on paper with no goal in mind for your writing, I encourage you to do so. You’ll be surprised at how fast the years fly by and you will always have that material in the future on which to draw. Putting your honest emotions on paper is also a great release and can be very therapeutic.
Good luck to you.