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From Beginning To
End GETTING STARTED (PART
TWO) ADJUSTING YOUR SCHEDULE
AND MANAGING YOUR TIME HOW TO BEGIN You know you want to be a writer, what motivates you,
and you are ready to begin. But
where do you start? You already
have; you're reading this article and probably have read several others about
how to get started in a promising writing career. If you've gotten this far, you have the desire to write.
Desire and determination are two steps to getting started.
Now all you need is to: Get organized!
Have a plan! Here's just a short sample of how
"things" get in the way of my writing. “J.D., stop over and have some tea. We'll chat.” “Honey, could you drop this at the post office, pick up my prescription, give the attorney a call, and pick up my dry cleaning?” “Hey, Mom, where are my shoes?” Oh yes, and don't forget the house needs cleaned, groceries
need bought, and little Amy has a doctor’s appointment. A male writer friend laughed when I complained.
“J.D.,” he said, “what you need to do is learn to manage your time,
instead of letting everyone else manage it for you.” I returned his guffaw by saying, "That's easy for you
to say-- your wife takes care of everything and all you have to do is
write!" He rebutted with, "Maybe most male writers can just sit
and write, but I pitch in with all that, and she helps me by typing my
manuscripts." After I talked to my friend at length, he made me realize
that I had to think differently. I
had to think of time as money. I
couldn’t find time; I had to make time for writing.
Once I did that, time was money! This part of the column is meant to help you set realistic
goals, adjust your schedule, and manage your time, so you can get as much
writing done as you possibly can without endangering the peaceful planet we all
live in called home. GET ORGANIZED Making time to write isn't easy. It takes patience, persistence, and planning. Here's where I'll probably throw you for a loop! I know you want to write. Great! But wait! In order to devote as much time to writing as you'd like, you need to get organized first. I don't mean just setting up a place to write and acquiring tools of the trade. Not just yet anyway! That comes next. Let me ask you a question. When
you're trying to write, does a sink full of dirty dishes, a clutter closet, a
cobweb, yard work or other chores make you lose concentration because you know
these things need to be done? I
know these things bothered me. Until
I completed my chores, I couldn't write anything substantial.
Here’s what I did: I put off my writing! Crazy,
you say? Not really.
After all, I'd been putting off my writing, in one way or another, for
years. Now, however, I have all the
time I need to write. A little
organization and pre-planning can make all the difference in the world.
Here's how. LIST YOUR WORK For the next week, list everything, and I mean everything, that either
keeps you from writing, takes time from writing, or you use as an excuse for not
writing. Make a list of everything
you do the entire week. SPRING CLEAN Spring clean, room-by-room. Go
through each room in the house and clean. I walked around my house, one room at a time, and made a list
of all the things that needed done that would keep me from writing.
For example: My living room needed painted, the carpets needed cleaned,
closets needed arranged, kitchen cabinets needed cleaned and arranged.
I took one month to get everything on my list completed.
Then, from there it was easy to keep up with daily chores. If I didn't use it for the past six months, I boxed it and donated it to Good
Will, the Salvation Army, or another worthy help organization.
(These can also be used as a tax deduction.)
Remember, the less clutter, the less cleaning, and more writing. If you have appliances you never use (an old donut maker you've only used
once in six years) don't keep it in a pantry where commonly used items should be
easily accessible. Either give it
away, or find a storage place for things you don't use (but have to keep because
Aunt Josie gave it to you). Now that the hardest part is out of the way, you're ready to
begin. ORGANIZE YOUR SCHEDULE You’ll be surprised at how many things you do each day and each week that
take from your writing time. Make a list of what you accomplish in one day.
Here is my list from 10 years ago. · make breakfast for hubby · write list of things to do · do laundry · do dishes · make dinner · make lunch · play with kids · clean kitchen floor · clean bathrooms · make beds · dust · run sweeper · grocery shop · write speech · council meeting My list went on and on and on, in no particular order.
It was any wonder I got anything accomplished.
Listing absolutely everything I did in one day or one week was
overwhelming. Getting it all done
was overwhelming, too. After
writing this list, I wondered how I was able to do everything on the list and
survive, let alone produce publishable writing.
The important thing is -- I did! Now look at your list. Number it
in order of importance and priority. Balancing your life and getting organized will be your first
step in becoming a published writer. I've never been one to put off until tomorrow what can be accomplished today
as you can see by the schedule I kept. However,
I'll be the first one to warn you; keeping a schedule like that can be hazardous
to your family's well-being and your health. PRIORITIZE Ask yourself what is most important to you.
Don't scold yourself if your husband and children outrank your need to
write, or if your wife and children take priority to cleaning the car or doing
yard work. If you truly want to be
a writer, take these steps to organize your life to appease your family and
yourself. Be realistic! Set a schedule for
yourself that is possible to stick with. Plan to write for one hour out of the day.
You'll find yourself much more energetic and enthusiastic about sitting
in front of the keyboard if you've satisfactorily reached a one hour goal than
you will if you planned for three hours and achieved only one. All too many beginning writers set an impossible schedule and unrealistic goals to keep up with, and then they become discouraged and give up when they fail to stay on schedule. If you say you're going to write an hour each day, then write an hour each
day! Pick a particular time of day
when you know you are most energized and will have the least interruptions.
Whatever time you pick, let others (friends, family, clubs, etc.) know
that time is your creative time. No
phone calls, please! Put your
answering machine on and write. There
is nothing more disturbing to a writer than to have a paragraph in mind and
losing the thought of that paragraph because the phone rings. If you choose one hour a day in the afternoon, plan the remaining hours of the day for all your chores. At one point in my writing career, I had a schedule that seemed impossible to keep. That year I was honored with receiving the 1990 Times Woman of the Year Award. The first paragraph of the feature article written about me went something like this: “When there's time she sleeps. Give her three or four hours of sound sleep and the 38-year-old will wake at 5:30 a.m., make breakfast, ready her husband and two daughters for work or school, clean the house from 9 a.m. until noon, work on her novels until 3 p.m., make dinner, spend time with the children until their 9:30 p.m. bedtime and then--need a breath yet?-- return to her personal computer where she seizes the late night and early morning hours to do what she enjoys immensely-- write. She's as relentless as the pink Energizer-battery rabbit-- steady, persistent and determined to succeed." Seeing my heavy schedule in print was overwhelming. Being compared to the Energizer bunny-- "steady, persistent and determined"-- was reassuring. It was a great honor to receive the award and a wonderful feeling knowing I truly was everything I wanted to be-- steady, persistent, determined, and a writer. I don't recommend as full a schedule as I had, but if you find yourself as involved as I was, that paragraph certainly can give you an idea of how to handle a full agenda. Balance what is necessary with what isn't. Since then, I've learned to curb my schedule drastically and learned how to juggle it when it becomes too much. Here are just a few suggestions on how to make a schedule you (and your family) can live with while managing your time. Make a list of errands. Grocery shopping, post office, dentist/doctor appointments, dry cleaners,
pick up pictures, go to the bank...etc. Rather than running a few errands three different days of the
week, try to get them taken care of in one day. Better yet, have hubby pick up a few things at the grocery
store, get stamps at the post office, or make bank deposits on the way home from
work. (Same goes for the male
writer-- get the wife to help). This
will help soften the load for you and give you more time to spend with your
spouse when home. (That one always
worked for me.) Put a copy of your list in the car. Map out the order of errands so you don't have to back track and you won't forget something. Keep the list on a clipboard so it is easily accessible. Keep a travel log for mileage. Keep track of any errands that add up the mileage for your writing career. It can be used on your taxes. (I'll talk more about the clipboard and travel log later). Housework Decide what is necessary. I cleaned what would be seen-- why waste time on a cluttered closet? Save that for a day you have less on your schedule. Throw in a load of laundry, and then put dinner in a crock-pot (you're not at the stove for hours). Get kids to help. When the laundry is dry, encourage the children to fold their clothes and put
them away. Provide each child with
his/her own laundry basket for dirty clothes and for the clean folded clothes.
If they are toddlers, they will enjoy helping, and it helps teach them
responsibility at the same time. Also,
provide each child with enough storage for toys, clothes, etc. I used old baskets, plastic containers with lids that will
slide under the bed or stack in a closet. (All
can be found at discount stores). Use
clean coffee cans (kids can decorate them) for crayons, pens, pencils, etc.
Cardboard organizers with drawers are great for socks and underwear or
for small toys such as balls, jacks, puzzles, pictures, etc.
Let the children arrange their room as much as possible. Mine used mesh nets to hang small stuffed animals on the wall
rather than clutter the bed or floor. You'll
find the more they are involved in the decorating of their room, the more likely
they will be to try to keep it neat. Keep a date book Keep a date book with all your doctor appointments, interviews, meetings, etc. Always add to the date book the schedules of other members of the family. If you keep lists and dates in mind all the time, you'll begin to find yourself more organized. Here are just a few suggestions on how to manage your time when you have many
items on your list to be accomplished.
No one said you have to think, eat and sleep writing as I do, but you can
make time to write just by adjusting your schedule and managing your time.
Once you have done all this, then you can set up a creative atmosphere
and get right to what is important. Writing! Joanne will also accept questions by e-mail about writing from readers and answer those questions in her column. E-mail Joanne: joannedstanko@attbi.com. Visit her site at http://www.worldzone.net/arts/joannestanko Joanne Stanko has published more than 2,500 articles. She was award
recipient of the 1990 Woman of the Year for Beaver County, Pennsylvania, for her
accomplishments in her community and excellence in journalism. For more columns by Joanne (Stanko) Kiggins, please click here. |
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