Friday, November 20, 2009

All Good Intentions

After each DWO meeting I am pumped and eager to continue writing my novel, but ( I really hate the word 'but'!) my good intentions fall the wayside of other things. Work is a necessary evil and when I get home I must make meals and clean the house. After supper I catch up on emails and/or phone messages. Of course I can't miss my favourite TV shows and suddenly it's time for bed and another day without writing is behind me.

One of my female writer friends insists she doesn't clean the house while she writes her great Canadian novel. I don't know how she does it. There is no way (unless I borrowed a pair of blinkers from a horse) that I could write in a filthy house. Don't get me wrong, the house doesn't need to be spotless--just tidy and relatively clean. Then I can sit down and write.

Juggling chores and leaving enough time for writing is another issue. I usually tell myself that I'll get this and that done before sitting at my computer. Sometimes this and that take longer than I thought they would and the writing gets put aside for another day.

I intend to write today after I do some Christmas shopping, exchange a camisole at Reitman's and get my hair cut. How do I know I'll get to my writing today? I have a couple of little incentives planned. Sometime this afternoon I'll sit down at my computer to write the next chapter with a glass of wine and a piece of chocolate.

The scene is already playing through my mind and I'm looking forward to putting it down on paper, or should I say on the screen?

Do any of you have any proven techniques of accomplishing your writing goals? I'd love to hear about them.

Cynthia

1 comment:

  1. Oh boy do I know what you mean Cynthia. This very topic has been weighing on my mind recently as well - how to make the time to write?

    Juggling work and kids and household chores takes up so much of my energy that, by the time that's all done, I only have enough energy left to sit on the couch and watch TV while my poor laptop sits sad and alone.

    I try to remind myself though that, no matter how valid my excuses are, they won't get the novel written. It's not as though there is some writing fairy who listens to my well thought out reasons for not getting any words down today and says, "Yes, you're right, there is no way you could have gotten to the book today. I hereby grant you 1500 words - poof!"

    So, until the writing fairy does show up at my desk, it's up to me to find the time.

    I work out at a local fitness club and when I'm in my cycling class and we've been riding hard for half an hour and we're all whining that we can't possibly keep going, our instructor always yells the same thing at us, "Find It!" she says, and I think it's the same thing for writing.

    Sara

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