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Like
most women I know, and many on RomAus, my life is one long list
in prioritized order. I have an exercise book that lives on the
corner of the island bench in the kitchen – the manifest of the
household. Each Sunday I review the list and take pleasure in
the items that have a big blue line through them. I sigh as I
carry over the yet to be attended items. Some of those items
have been there for over a year…like new handles for the hall
cupboards.
Writing
used to be one of those ‘carry-over’ things. Everything came
ahead of it from important things like family and community
volunteering down to unimportant things like tax returns.
Sure, I
wrote and I finished books, but I had big gaps between books. My
output was one book a year. Then the year my youngest son
started school I decided to push writing up the list a bit more.
When I sold my first book in 2005 I had increased my writing
time to some extent but I had never written three books in one
year, which is what I am doing now.
Did I
suddenly get more time to write? Sadly no.
Realistically, I couldn’t quit my five-day a week part-time job.
I couldn’t walk away from being on the school council. I did
drop some things but I didn’t gain a shirt load of time. So what
changed?
My
attitude and how I handle the limited time I have.
I used
to want to have all domestic things finished before I sat down
at my desk. I’m not talking a clean or tidy house but I would
clear outstanding things, run errands, make phone calls etc.
Only then could I be in the right frame of mind to write. I had
to BE at my desk to write surrounded by all things
inspirational. The house had to be quiet for only then could I
truly create….roll eyes here J
Yeah,
well, I realized that if I waited for all the Planets to align
so I could write then I’d never get anything written.
So I
started to Swiss cheese time. What’s that? It’s when you have a
big task i.e. writing a book, and you whittle away at it, making
holes in the task just like the holes in Swiss cheese.
So where
to start?
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Carving out time.
Ask yourself, ‘Can I do this domestic task when the kids are
home? Can the kids be doing this domestic task? When children
are napping or out of the house at daycare, kinder, school or at
a friend’s house then maximize the time and write.
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Writing isn’t just
physically writing.
I think about my book at other times, not just when I am at the
desk. When I am doing the ‘must do’ things like buying food, I
ponder dilemmas in my story. I nut out problems, snip out
scenarios of interest from the paper/magazines that spark my
creativity and I have even been known to practice dialogue in
the supermarketJ I’m sure most people thought I was
‘blue-toothing’!
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Writing Away from
the Computer. I
bought an Alphasmart. I write while I sit waiting for my son to
do his piano and swimming lessons. I tap away and get about 300
words in that half hour. At least 250 I end up keeping. Can’t
afford an Alphie? No problem. Spend ten dollars on a stable
table and fifty cents on an exercise book and buy a pen. Later
when you type your jottings into your computer you will layer
them and bingo, first draft is already second or perhaps even
final draftJ
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The Alphasmart
has an added benefit of only displaying four lines. This means I
cannot edit. I also use the Alphie if I am stuck. It is great
for free-falling words and can really free up your writing
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Editing in all
sorts of places. I
print out my draft chapter on used paper and I edit it on
hardcopy while I am a passenger on car trips...or at the pool or
piano or… As I now write a book now in about ten weeks I edit
as I go. When I have written three chapters I print them out and
read them in one go. When I have written chapters 4-7 I do the
same thing but reading from chapter one through to seven. This
keeps me connected to the story, reinforces themes and makes me
realise where I have to strengthen the story. I can read just
about anywhere. By doing this by the time I write THE END on a
manuscript the book is pretty much polished and only needing one
more read through.
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If you Value your
Writing others will too.
If I have to write on the
weekends, and usually I have to for a couple of hours because of
commitments during the week, I limit it to a block of time. I
say the words, ‘I am going to work now. Please make me a cup of
tea at X time.’ This gives the family an end time when they know
I am back on deck and available to them. THIS really cuts down
interruptions.
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I use earplugs when
the family is at home, blocking out all extraneous noise and
disappear into my writing world.
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Train the family.
I explained to the boys there were two parents in the household
and not every question had to be directed to me especially if I
was upstairs, in the office at the computer and with earplugs in
and working J
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Analyse your
current use of time.
Recognize inefficient time drains. Too much of my time goes up
on email and the Internet. I have started a 12-step program as I
wean myself from email loops.J Marion Lennox once said make
sure your writing computer isn’t attached to the Internet and
have the Internet computer at the opposite end of the house. I
am thinking she might have a point.
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Use a Timer.
Although I haven’t tried
this yet I am planning to use it. Anne Gracie, Marion Lennox
advocates the use of an oven timer for three to four 45-minute
bursts. Nicola Marsh talks about ‘power writing.’ Nicola writes
for two hours each night and for that timeframe she only writes
and lets nothing or no one interrupt her.
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Work with a
critique partner
who views your work with fresh eyes. This can help you over
roadblocks and hurdles.
Someone
asked me the other day, ‘How’s the writing going? I suppose you
have to wait until inspiration strikes?’
Nuh-uh.
You have to write to be inspired rather than waiting to
be inspired to write. When you’re writing the dross that is when
you’ll discover the nugget of gold.
I don’t
pretend to have all the answers, far from it. I chase my tail a
lot of the time. But by using small windows of time in your week
you will free up time you didn’t think you had and this time
belongs to your writing.
Fiona
Lowe writes for Harlequin Mills and Boon Medical Romance
in between juggling jobs, a heroic husband and two future
heroes. Her current release is The Surgeon’s Chosen Wife
and is on sale from April 15th. Funnily enough, it
features a mother trying to juggle work and family life. Visit
her
website for more information about all her books.
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