There are a number of topics I could bring up in my monthly posts here at Storytellers Unplugged (some of which I might even be qualified to comment on). Trying to pick one is, frankly, a little overwhelming. I’m hit or miss with these things anyway, so from now on I will welcome reader requests. Email me at
knightmares101@gmail.com and tell me what you want to read.
You, the reader, are the boss.
One question I used to get a lot, and still get from time to time, is how I write while working full time and raising a family.
Many people on the other side of this business assume all writers make enough money that they don’t have to work regular jobs. Ten or more years ago when I decided to make the jump from hobbyist to professional, I was still operating under that happy assumption.
The reality is sobering for a new writer hoping to do this for a living. I’m still not there yet, so even though I no longer consider myself a hobbyist, I don’t consider myself a true professional either. Many disagree with me on that point, but that is a personal standard I’ve set for myself. No more, no less.
So, even though I’m closer to that benchmark than many harder working, and more deserving, writers in this field, I still have my “real” job.
My real job eats up nine hours of every weekday, ten if you count preparation and decompression, which I do. Often times it’s more. I’m on call 24/7 for emergencies, which is a good thing on at least one level. Since my job requires me to drive, usually carrying hazardous materials, alcohol and recreational drug use (the universal bane of artistic people) is out of the question. The only time I drink is at conventions, and even then, I limit myself. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I lost control and puked on an editor during an impromptu pitch meeting. I’m barely coherent during those things as it is.
Sleep is important too, so I dedicate a minimum of six hours a night to it. In this field, time spent sleeping is akin to the odd business expense that you write off at the end of the year. You just never know when you’ll get a good idea from a dream, the more bizarre the better. I think writers are probably the only people who really look forward to a good nightmare.
To review, between my real job and recharging my brain and body, I’ve spent sixteen of my twenty-four hours. That’s two thirds on my day eaten up by these two necessary evils. If I’m going to accomplish anything worthwhile in the time remaining, I’ll have to budget my remaining eight hours.
A social life, while it can be pleasant, is a huge drain on your time. I’ve never been a social butterfly, but more and more I try to contain the majority of my social interaction to the weekend. This includes having friends over or going out with friends, going out to dinner, chatting with the neighbors, or indulging the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons who show up at my door to save me from myself.
This also includes chatting online, posting to message boards, and engaging in fruitless flame wars. Many new or aspiring writers could write a few novels in the time they spend farting around online in a year.
Networking, promoting, and interacting with fans and readers, or potential fans and readers, is one thing. Surfing from site to site for hours a day is something else entirely. An hour a day online during the week should be enough to handle your recreational surfing, and that’s being generous.
Family is important, and while a writer must, by necessity, neglect them for at least a few hours a night in order to write, you can’t shut them out entirely. Whenever you start to feel guilty about closing yourself off from them when it is time to write, just consider all the folks who are ignoring their kids and spouses in order to go out drinking and hell raising with friends.
Keep all your extracurricular activities to a minimum, and set yourself a time to sit down and face your computer screen. If you have two computers, keep one offline and preferably in a separate room from your online computer, and use that one to write. I prefer a laptop for writing because it gives me more escape options.
I try to write from nine in the evening until midnight or one-thousand words. If you can manage a thousand words minimum a night, you can easily manage two or more novels a year. Sometimes you will exceed your goal and sometimes you will fall short, but if you can average a thousand words a night, you’re doing well.
Write every night that you can, even if you don’t have a novel-worthy idea. Write non-fiction, short stories, novellas, or anything else you can think of to keep your writing skills sharp. Writing is more like playing a guitar than riding a bike. If you don’t do it for a long time, you will forget things, and you will loose your edge. Things do come up, and sometimes you will be unable to put your time in, but if that is the exception rather than the rule, you’ll be okay.
It’s an easy concept and an easy plan. Just like budgeting your income, but it takes long-term dedication and persistence to make it work. You have to do it until it becomes habit.
You will fall out of practice, as I have. You will loose your dedication from time to time, as I have. Don’t beat yourself up too much when this happens. Get back on schedule, rededicate yourself, and always look forward to the golden day when you will type a writer’s two favorite words.
The end.
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I like the thousand words rule…particularly because if I need the time, I can crank it out in my lunch hour…
Some times I’m just in prep work to work, and other projects (like the current project) are different - trying to convert a novel into a screenplay takes a lot longer per thousand words, believe me…
But I hear you on all counts…full time job, commitments…family…it’s sometimes tough to keep it in perspective. I had a real wake-up call this winter with college, finding that (in fact) I am NOT Superman, and cannot do full time work, writing, college and family…so I haven’t written as much as usual…
DNW