One interesting blog post that I’ve recently come across was on Cheryl’s Musings, writer Cheryl Reif’s blog.
In the post, Cheryl explains how she decided to start writing. Actually, her story is a lot like my own, which might be why I identified with it. We both enrolled our small children in preschool and started taking our writing seriously.
Cheryl lists some ideas for respecting yourself as a writer, including protecting your writing time and realizing that just because you’re unpublished, it doesn’t mean your writing is unimportant.
I tweeted a link to the post and quite a few people connected to the topic and retweeted it.
One person tweeted back, though, saying that she thought she took her writing too seriously.
I’ve done both, I think. I know the biggest gain in my writing career was when I decided to take my writing seriously. I set an attainable goal, and things started clicking into place.
But I’ve also taken my writing too seriously sometimes. I’ve let deadlines stress me out, I’ve concentrated too much on writing and let other things slide that needed attention in my life.
It looks like, as in so many things in life, that moderation or balance is key.
For me this means making sure I eke out writing time each day (lately it’s been in the 30 minutes in the carpool line outside the high school), but it also means that I put my laptop away when members of my family are trying to have a conversation with me.
I also make sure I plan time in my day for reading (which is both enjoyment and craft-building time for me) and time for connecting online with other writers….the network of writers on blogs and Twitter, etc., who provide so much information and encouragement. But then I make time to play a card game with my kids or talk about the news of the day with my husband.
And…it’s tough. Some days I’m not sure I’m handling the balance at all well. Occasionally I feel distracted, too, when I’m supposed to be focused on what I’m doing at the time. But I’m trying.
How do you balance your time? Do you take your writing seriously? Do you take it too seriously?
I’ve often fallen into the trap of taking my writing time too seriously, yet not actually protecting my actual time spent writing. While I would have my WIP open on my computer, I’d be distrated by Twitter or chatting to friends online, but still getting stressed out that I wasn’t writing enough.
Part of this stemmed from the last couple of months, when I was forcing myself to write no matter how I was feeling. That was a mistake.
I’ve decided to just try to enjoy writing more, rather than fret over word count.
Elizabeth – Oh, that is a tough balance for me. It is so important to take our writing seriously, to see ourselves as writers and respect that about ourselves. That said, though, it’s important to remember that we’re also people. Writing is only one dimension of what makes us up, and without those other dimensions, our writing would suffer anyway. How do I balance it? Some days not very well. But I try to balance it by setting aside time to write – making it official, like a meeting is. I’m not always successful, but I try.
I’m the same. Some days the writing takes over and consumes me. Other days I find it easier to balance. Like you say, it’s all important – writing, networking, family. For me the balance is a little different each day, but over a week, I think it mostly shakes out.
Twitter and facebook is to blame for much distraction!! Well, it is for me, anyway…
I do have time set aside each day for writing, but I have been known to take up other parts of the day when I should be dragging my children away from their computers for some family time. It’s definitely hard to get that balance, and it doesn’t work every day.
Yeah I’ve had to back off for a little bit. I get too wrapped up in wanting it to be a literary masterpiece and I gt frustrated that I’m not ‘that good’ yet and jealous of people with book releases and I can’t get past chapter 1 on any new idea. I let story lines and ideas intimidate me and make me think I can’t do it justice, so why try.
Yep, I take it way too seriously.
I fluctuate between too seriously, too much frivolity, and just right. It is a continual balancing act and I think, if I make sure I never believe I have that balance nailed, I’ll be good overall!
I have a hard time, too. I work full time must devote some time to family (although I’m single with no children so I have that pretty easy). I don’t really know how I fit blogging, twitter, and writing all into the measely spare time I have, but I do my best.
Luckily, when I do write, I’m prolific, turning out 60 pages a weekend on occasion. That makes up for wasted weeks when I’m too tired.
I don’t know a soul who has found the perfect balance. I know some people who sit at their computer all day long and late into the night. Not good. I know some people who are so busy – myself included – that they can allot perhaps 1-2 hours a day on a manuscript.
Yeah, I could stop hiking, cooking, swimming, hanging with my kids, my husband, my pets, gardening, movies, sports – I could stop doing all that, but I don’t want to. I’ve even managed to find time to complete books when I’m doing all of the above and working 3/4 time.
My personal life/family comes first, my health and well-being come second, other family/financial obligations third, and then I write.
There are days when I manage to complete two sentences. So be it.
Good question.
I do my best to take my writing seriously, but it is not likely I will be able to give up my day-job in order to write full-time so I have to think of classes, marking essays etc first. But even when I am far too tired to write anything remotely coherent, I try to take a few small steps to promote my books every week.
A bit of both. Right now I feel stressed about a third book, as no solid idea has hit me yet.
Paul–Sometimes breaks *are* important. When writing is a chore, it really changes everything.
Writer Pat–That Twitter! I know what you mean…
Margot–Making an appointment to write sounds like a great idea!
Andrea–I know what you mean…plenty of days where I miss my target.
MissM–I think that happens to a *lot* of people–perfectionism tripping us up. Now I try to just shoot for ‘a good story.’ Otherwise, I get myself too wound up!
Carol–True, isn’t it? Some days I spend too much time at the computer. Other days, too much time OFF the computer. It probably all balances out.
Jan–Good point. If we think we’re in balance, we’re probably most OUT of balance!
Olene–I think binge writing can work out really well for some writers. I usually have to just do a little at a time–but sometimes I get close to deadline and then it’s all-writing-all-the-time for me.
Alex–Yeah, that’s not fun. Some unanswered questions from book 1 or 2, maybe?
I do tend to take it serious, as I recognize the business aspect of it. I might be striving too hard for perfection with my current work, but considering the subject matter, it needs to be accurate.
It also needs to be finished someday!
I’ve been mulling on the many things that self-publishing has brought on the publishing world in general, and I think one of those might be the rise of a new class of writer:
The Serious Amateur.
These are the folks who take their writing seriously, but whose motive is self-fulfillment and personal satisfaction (the “avocational” rather than “vocational” folks, as they say in education).
I go through both. Sometimes I take it so seriously I think I become a different person, Clarissa the person and Clarissa the writer. I have to step back when I do and realize that writing is a part of my life but not all of it.
Julia–And all of the other things you do will definitely influence your writing…so in a way, you could consider it research time. :)
Diane–Perfectionism can really slow us down, can’t it?
Dorte–You’re doing a great job! You have a lot going on…I don’t see how you do it all.
The Daring Novelist–Very interesting! I think you could be right. I wonder at what point they tip over into vocational writer territory? Not because of pay, because serious amateurs could make money, for sure.
Clarissa–It’s easy to have it take over, if we let it!
Indeed, taking writing too seriously can be self-defeating. When I was completing my first novel, I had a month of relative alone time and wrote for 8 – 10 hours each day. My editor write me a kind email, asking whether I was perhaps rushing. I laughed out loud.
I took a few days off and came back to the page with clearer eyes, improved energy and overall better results.
There’s a great book I highly recommend for other writing compulsives: The Power of Rest: Why Sleep is Not Enough http://www.amazon.com/Power-Rest-Sleep-Enough-30-Day/dp/0061862762
I now take breaks throughout each day and take a day off each week. I also allow for “mental health days” as needed. ;)
August–Thanks for the link to the book! I’ll check it out. Of course, I’m an insomniac, so not sure how much sleep I can get, but maybe *rest* I can accomplish, at least.