Last week, at the Creative Writing Workshop through Barnes and Nobles in Greece, one question that popped up through out the night was 'when do you write?'. The group is from all genres and writing levels. One was getting back into writing after a twenty year break while others were just finding their groove.
Some say in the morning after cleaning, going to Barnes and Nobles three times a week, or in the car while driving... it comes down to when we all have time throughout our busy day. Personally, I used to write before bed, but life has put a stop to that, now I am trying a new routine.
Stephen King wrote contracted work in the morning and for fun in the afternoon. It was the fun piece that he first sold well. So if you can commit yourself to writing all day long, do it. Find your groove.
If you have to buy a package of white paper napkins for paper, hide yourself in a single lite room with a table and typewriter, or upside down on a lounge chair by the pool just do it. The sky's the limit as long as we write. Because you never know what you have until you read it on paper, or a computer screen.
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My response is easy. I write whenever my baby naps...I place the other in front of the television with a snack, and I hop on the computer. No guilt. The baby rarely sleeps longer than an hour and a half, so my other child isn't in front of the tube all day long. And many times I take a break and work on teaching him to read. He'd rather watch TV, though. :)
ReplyDeleteI also write as soon as the kids are in bed (after I read my son his bedtime stories), but I always stop at 9:30 to read for half an hour before bed. I think that as a writer, it's as important to read as it is to write.
Basically, I get about one and half to three hours of writing (or researching markets/agents etc.)a day. Not bad for a stay-at-home mom. Not sure what I'll do when the baby stops taking naps, though....
Hmmm...I lost my routine about a year ago. At one point I would usually devote about two focused hours a day working on a manuscript (on a good day even longer). This past year I started to spend more time trying to squeeze in the other writing stuff (figuring out promo, staying on the various writing boards, etc). My hope is that this summer I'll write early in the morning (maybe 6am-9am) before the kids get itchy to do something fun :-)
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