It’s been awhile since I’ve been active on this blog. My activity here seems to go in spurts. The reasons for delays are many and varied, of course. Recently, there have been two big causes for being quiet on the blog. The first is that I ended up going out of town and didn’t have a lot of time to be online while I was gone. The other is that I’m working on a new writing schedule and I’m still trying to figure out where my personal blogs fit in to that.
I’ve got some new plans and goals for my writing life. I’m still in the planning stages of setting those goals. As I create them and commit to them, my need for a more efficient writing schedule is changing again.
Messing around with the schedule that I keep is something that I do regularly as a freelance writer. I do my best work in the morning so I try to get a lot done though. What “a lot” means changes, however, depending on whether I’m currently more focused on blogging, bigger writing projects or social promotion stuff. I also play around regularly with which 2-3 days off per week I want (weekends vs. weekdays is always a big questions for me). And finally, I’m hoping to take some extended vacations in the next couple of years so I’m trying to schedule for that as well.
The new schedule is almost worked out. When it’s ready, I’ll be back to writing regularly again here. And I’ll have a lot more to say about my specific goals and plans as a writer.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you about your thoughts on a writing schedule. Do you keep one? What’s the part of it that changes most often?
June 13th, 2009 at 3:58 am
I work all the time unless there is something else to do, or a I need a break. My schedule consists of deadlines and to do lists, not so much days and hours. I usually take off on federal holidays and play hooky now and then. Otherwise I am at work seven days a week, although they are not always full-time days.
I used to try to plan the hours and days, but I am a really busy writer and I have a lot of clients to take care of. Not to mention the projects I manage (outsource) that I have to follow up with and edit. When I had a set schedule, I would always feel pressured to be chained to the computer at a certain time, and I wasn’t enjoying myself. Now I work according to what I have to do, and according to my goals. I prioritize, and my hours are extremely flexible.
June 16th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I am also more fresh in the morning and try to structure my writing time accordingly. I teach high school and write fiction, so I sacrifice sleep and come in about forty-five minutes before school every morning and crank out some pages. I am currently at work on the second draft of a young adult novel, so the work does eventually get done.
June 19th, 2009 at 9:26 am
[...] working on creating a new personal work schedule. I’ve got the kinks almost worked out. When that’s done, this blog will resume again on [...]
July 6th, 2009 at 7:37 am
I found writing worked best at night, however, with homeschooling my son and his need to stay up late, I found myself having to get up earlier i the day to do the writing then. Much to my surprise, I managed to write just as well- providing I have coffee at hand.
In a way, I feel as though I simply adapted through necessity. I discovered that if I persisted with only night writing, I wouldn’t be writing as much as I’d like to. Adapt or die, I choose to evolve.
Great post!
@frootbat31 - What a great way to put it - sometimes we need to evolve our routines in order to grow our writing.