I have been reading On Writing by Stephen King recently. In it he shares memories as well as advice on becoming a writer. Many of his insights seem like common sense such as writing and reading as much as you can. He talks about writing honestly and putting your writing time as a priority above almost everything in your life. All of this I agree is extremely important.
He mentions the support of his wife and how she always believed in him. That support can be paramount to success but at the same time what if you have someone in your life that understands and wants you to do what you love however also wants you to be involved your their passions which have little or nothing to do with writing? I work a full time job, exercise almost daily for the sake of health, and sanity if I am completely honest, and make time to spend with my family. At the moment my "family" is made up of a few close friends and my boyfriend. I do read on my breaks at work as well as when I am out running errands and most nights for awhile in bed before falling asleep.
It is only on my one or two days off from work that I am able to sit down and seriously write. I outline on breaks at work as well from time to time, I try to get posts up for my blog and write down notes to be added in for the next time I sit down to write but it comes down to six or seven solid hours of writing each week. I cannot afford to quit my job so where can I make extra time? My boyfriend comes to book shows with m, helps design promotional materials and gives me feedback but he would not take kindly to me putting my writing time in place of our time together. When I workout it is in classes so that does not allow for reading or editing time and my breaks are only twenty minutes long at work. I can alternate reading and writing time but it still isn't much in the overall scheme of things.
So how do I show my passion and dedication for something my heart is dedicated to while also maintaining balance? How do I become more productive and make forward progress in my writing goals while not losing other parts of my life that are also important to me? I watch friends that can write, converse on social media, attend book shows and are always preparing for the next reveal or release while I feel stagnant. I would appreciate suggestions on how I can find more time for writing while being able to hold on to the things I love as well.
I struggle with this CONSTANTLY. Finding the time to spread yourself out to keep yourself healthy, write, spend quality time with family and friends, work, read, edit, outline AND make time for yourself is a difficult process. You are not alone first of all, and second of all, I suggest a planner. If you do not already have one, get one and a calender and another calender. Every night, write down a TO DO list and make sure that you write down even things that you don't think you have to do like quality time with yourself. Believe me you need that time to breath and relax. It sounds like you are stretching yourself pretty thin. Using that planner and those calenders to better organize when you're going to write, when you're going to edit and if you have events with family or friends or when you're going to spend that quality time with family and friends will really help you organize that time. This is just a suggestion, but I hope it helps. :) ~ Gabbi J.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I have my calendar on my phone but having a planner sounds like a great option to try. I will go take a look at one this weekend and get a calendar to hang in my office as well.
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