My blog has suffered in the last couple of weeks from lack of input. I’ve had things I wanted to blog, but with all the wedding preparations getting into gear, the most I’ve been able to scrounge for time is the occasional morning. Which is my favorite time to write, but – I’ve got the line edits to finish on the second book before I send it off and the second chapter of the third book needs to be sent out to my critique group, only it isn’t done. What to do?
Is anyone else facing this conundrum? How do you allot your time and how do you get in the mood to write when you sit down and tell yourself this is it, I’ve got three hours!
My advice is to make the book your priority. The blog can wait. Sometimes I’ve only done one or two posts in one month, when I’ve been busy writing. Keep a list of the subjects you want to write about – they’ll still be there when you have the time for them.
I think our blogs are just incidental things; they’re important, but not as important as writing your novels. As for getting yourself ‘in the mood’ – well, I never wait til I’m ‘in the mood’, Noelle, and I often only have three hours at a time. The only thing I can advise you do is sit down, open up the document and got through what you wrote yesterday, changing bits here and there as you might normally, and you’ll soon get back into it. That’s what I do every day, and by the time I’ve got to the end of yesterday’s revisions, I find I carry on, hardly noticing I’m doing so!
Thank you, Terry! That’s just what I needed – a good dose of common sense.
Noelle, I’m glad you asked this question; and Terry gave a brilliant answer!
Now get thee back to Rhe Brewster; I’m missing her.
I did return, almost finished a chapter. The second book will be off to CreateSpace soon. Thanks for the encouragement!
Hi Noelle! I can see we’re having the same sort of problems! I’m also having difficulty writing with my summer family commitments. There is no easy answer. I’d say everything we write is important. We have to find time to read and write every day, even if it’s only a few minutes, when they’ve all gone to bed! Or before they get up! I’m also ‘thinking’ a lot about my characters, and book, and jotting down some ideas to develop later. This morning, as I walked along the beach, for just a few minutes, I visualised and heard the conversation between two of my characters I had written last night, and some new ideas and twists came to me, so I quickly jotted them down and wrote (to be developed). Amazingly, those few lines do usually develop into pages, when I have time and get down to some ‘serious’ writing :). Good luck with the wedding preparations! I love weddings!
Thanks, Luccia! Nice to share problems with people who understand the problem! I keep thnking of things but then find they have flown away when I get to jotting them down. Maybe I need to keep a notebook glued to my leg.
Yes, it’s vital to jot them down ASAP! I always carry a notebook around! 🙂 or I write on my mobile… or I talk to whoever is nearby lol!
Fight for your writing time, especially when the muse is there for you. One hour and you can do miracles with that plot, those characters. Fight for it, Noelle. 🙂
Hard to fight with my daughter and her wedding but she is giving me space in the AM while she sleeps!
Well, you didn’t notice too much of a gap when I went to summer camp -, did you? A couple of things I’ve found handy. Write a batch of short posts and schedule them for one or two a week from now till after the wedding. Do a haiku on Tuesday – or another day; they really don’t take long (and you don’t have to find a photo)! If you have got some useful photos, do a Wordless Wednesday post – possibly even challenge your readers to give it a caption.
Above all, don’t beat yourself up about it – we’re authors not bloggers and when we blog is up to us!
I didn’t notice a gap and wondered how you were doing it. I have to pretend I’m doing the A-Z challenge and book those posts ahead of time. But then, I think you are Wonder Woman!
I give myself usually a solid 2 hours a day to write, an hour or two to day dream, an hour to clean and an hour to exercise. Everything else is either reading or work. I’ve just started to force myself to write instead of doing other things. As far as blogging goes, I save myself in that regard by writing reviews. When I’d otherwise have nothing else to talk about, I just write about the last book I read.
Oh, I would love to be able to do that, but life seems to interfere – usually family. I always put family ahead of work before I retired and need to do that still. Lovely schedule you have – I’m envious.
Yeah, family would do it, for sure. I’m grateful that Alex is also a writer. We understand those moments of tappa tapppa are mutually necessary. Good luck whipping your time into shape!
Thanks! I very much appreciate the support!
Noelle, I know just what you mean and you have to do the things that are most important first – probably wedding and book. I have suddenly found I have too much on my plate – confirmation coming up on 19th, a paper to give in Brisbane and another in New Zealand, a book to write and an exegesis to prepare. Suddenly although I am still blogging my writing blogs are minimal with photos much quicker and easier to post. What upsets me more than anything though is I am not getting round to visit all my blogging friends as often as I would like. Good luck
Your plate is overflowing! Take a break from blogging or from participating in blogs by commenting – your sister bloggers will understand. I just spent four days away while at a conference called the Writer’s Police Academy – very different and fantastic. I will have a post about it later this week!
Still, I enjoy blogging and visiting so hope to keep up. Look forward to the Writer’s Police Academy.