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I just don't seem to be able to establish a regular routine of writing. In the daytime yesterday I worked on and off, but I wasn't particularly "in the zone" until about 10pm. I ended up writing all night, going to bed at 6am!
My energy levels are a bit unpredictable anyway since I've had ME, but still! It wasn't so much about waiting for inspiration or creativity, since the text book I'm working on is written to a tight formaual about a subject I know inside out.
Does anyone else have this type of problem with writing routine? What do you do? Do you go with the natual ebb and flow of your energy levels, or try to impose a routine?
Jacey 25/07/2005 13:22:17
Whoops, that's not how you spell formular! Must be the lack of sleep!
Jax 25/07/2005 18:38:40
Hi Jacey,
(Great name by the way and not just because it happens to reflect my initials!)
Yeah, I'm totally with you on this one. I've mentioned this situation before, but my 'routine' is such is that I rise at 3.30 am weekdays to take my partner to work as she does not drive. I get back around 4.30 and am then faced with the dilemma: do I go back to bed for a couple of hours kip? (I only work part-time, myself), or do I do myself proud and press on with whatever writing project I happen to be working on?
Most of the time, it tends to come out at around 50/50 - although when I do succumb to 'the call of the duvet', I usually find my mind is buzzing with ideas and it takes me ages to get back to sleep, by which time I could've probably completed a chapter or so!
Like you, I find it difficult to maintain a strict routine - the only thing that really does it for me is working to a deadline. Maybe I'll just have to pretend my agent has called to say my first effort has overtaken Dan Brown in the bestsellers list and all my fans are clambering for the next instalment of my trilogy.
Oh well, it's cheaper than therapy! Seriously though, there's no easy answer - but ideally for me - I know I work best first thing & if that means sitting down to the keyboard at 4.30 am then so be it.
Best of luck.
Jax
Moira 26/07/2005 08:19:14
Writing has been on the back burner for me recently, on account of having no free time now I am a full time mum again. The last week and a half, however, I have been in writing frenzy and managed to finish the second half of my non-fiction book.
This feat has been the result of putting child to bed around eight, spending at least half an hour tidying up and chatting with hubby to catch up and waiting for little one to drop firmly off to sleep as my computer is in the room next to her and can keep her awake if she is not already asleep.
Then, usually around nine in the evening I sit and type until at least one or two in the morning. I have one night off in four and I am shattered, with proof-reading and editing to come most nights this week, but with my in-laws staying here this week, it gives me a legitimate reason to avoid them!
Hoorah for working through the night, the only time I can get any writing done!
sal 26/07/2005 23:27:19
Hi Jacey again. I'm a midnight to dawn writer too-people say I must be a descendant of Dracula. But I write great, wondorous epics- until I read it in the morning. But no matter what the time, the idea is to get things written. I set myself a target-three items a week must be in the post. Its surprising how easy it is to keep going the pace.
Jacey 27/07/2005 17:18:53
Hi all,
Thanks for that, I'm glad I'm not alone, although it doesn't really sound like a very healthy habit for any of us does it?! As Sal says though, as long as we're writing.
Jax, I really hope you knock Dan Brown flying off that bestseller list! I hope he hasn't got too comfortable!
Moira, I think you're doing great to fit writing around a young child. I always think it's really valuable in terms of encouraging literacy skills for children to see their parents reading for pleasure. It must be even better for them to see you writing books!
Margaret 27/07/2005 22:04:35
weel, if I tell you I don't come on the pc until it's this time you'll realise I'm another midnight writer. I've always been awake while others sleep but I don't want to get out of my bed in the morning. When I do I can win a comp in slouching. I hate routines. If I join a club or anything, I'll go enthusiastically for a few weeks, then the routine gets me down.
I also write wonderfully at night but can cut 50 per cent of this the next day.
Does anyone else like printing out to read rather than reading on the screen, thereby saving neither tree nor printer ink. (Which someone worked out that it costs app £800 per gallon.)
as long as we write, right?
Jacey 28/07/2005 09:58:26
Yes, I'm guilty of printing out too! I always print the finished draft of articles to check for errors. I find that even if I've been through work several times on the pc and can't spot any more typos, they will be one or two lurking that only show themselves when I print. No idea why!
Stan - 30/07/2005 15:33:31
I too print out what I've written, somehow it's easier to spot mistakes on a printout. I'm an early morning person rather than an all-through-the-nighter. I like to get up around 6am and do some writing - very peaceful time with no telephone ringing. With my non-fiction book I've reached just over 27,000 words in 11 chapters, so I'm making progress. A lot of reseach involved for this book.
You're so disciplined! I am in awe! The thinking side of my brain knows I should work regular hours, but the creative side simply won't co-operate. But you have given me an idea. Maybe I'll start substituting my normal trolley of food at the supermarket for loaves of gluten free bread, and when I can't face the thought of eating it, I'll use the meal-time I've freed up for writing! Well, it's a thought...
I just find that when I am in a mood of relaxation so many ideas pop into my head. When my day is filled with action ideas hardly ever enter my mind.
You are not the only one that writes through the night! As long as you write, don't worry!
Alana
Thanks for encouragment Alana.
I posted a thread a couple of weeks ago about the difficulty I was having finding the right title for a short parody I wrote a while back and set aside. I've finally got it - inspiration struck at about quarter to three this morning! If I'd have been sleeping I'd have missed it!!!
Jacey
I set myself targets of so many words per day/hour/week depending how much time I have and when I have a day free (lots of those now my little girl started school) I get my 'chores' and house work or whatever out of the way and then I sit and write until I need to pick her up from school.
It doesn't matter what I write, non-fiction, articles, synopsis, novels or whatever I'm working on.
I have to be strict with myself because if I am not, I know I will procrastinate or suffer from accedia.
Twiddling my thumbs while I think about what to do does not count (have to tell myself that often). When it's all done I feel good that I reached my target and am nearer to success.
A few months ago I had very little writing time so I would go in my writing room when my husband went to bed around 10.30 or so and carry on until at least 1.30 or 2. That was good, quiet house, no distractions - I got a lot done
I am a full-time mum of 3 young kids, one has just started school, and the others are 22 month old twins. In between looking after kids, housework, working weekends I have very little time to actually do any writing. I cannot work through the night, because I need my energy for the next day.
So I do the only thing I can do and write when I can, as long as I write something everyday I am happy. As I do not watch a lot to TV, this is generally done in the evenings, where I will try and set myself a limit of so many words, depending on what I am working on.
I also write a daily diary, which helps me release any gremlins that I may have been harbouring. As I am the only one to read my diary, it does not matter if it is not very good. But it keeps me writing.
My writing is very undisciplined, I'm afraid to say, especially the fiction book. When I first started it, I was living in a tiny room in Inverness with no TV, so very little else to think about, and I was writing every evening, without fail. Now, however, I'm getting to the ending and, having finally figured out my title, which was eluding me for far too long, I've discovered that what I thought was the ending is not-quite-the-ending. This throws up two points for me which prevent me from writing: 1) I now don't know what the ending is, or how to reach it and 2) being so near the end means I'll soon have to finish it, and say goodbye to my characters, which is the hardest part, especially as my protagonist is extremely flamboyant, and I shall miss her.
My only relief is that I keep writing music reviews and press releases, keeping me busy, and not making me feel TOO guilty...
As for writing in the morning - unless I'm awake anyway, not a chance. I've always been one for staying up late, and being rotten at getting out of bed in the morning. I have a nasty feeling that nothing will ever change that, so - writing in the evening or late at night will always be the best, most creative time for me.
And, as I write by hand first, the best place I've found to write is sitting up in bed. Is that because otherwise, it feels too much like 'real work?' Who can tell?
But I tend to write quite late, then read myself to sleep in bed - I know experts tell you not to, but it helps me sleep, and if I can't sleep, at least I'm not staring at the ceiling, and when I'm tired, I can read more easily than I can write - I just tend to write c**p when I'm tired. So, my working day revolves around a) how much I have to do (at the moment, I have a ms to type up), and b) how awake I am. I do hate everyday life interrupting my real life, but to those who don't do it, it's so hard to explain...