routines
Wrote about four pages of a random scene today so far (out of order, of course.) I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a new routine to get new pages done, like getting up earlier to crank them out before life begins to interfere. Normally, I get the bulk of my writing time at night, when the husband comes home and takes over the three year old, who has given up the idea of napping for now. I’m finding that I have the best intentions of writing then, but I’m exhausted. Lately, I crawl into bed with the pad and paper in hand and try to get something down, and it’s usually decent but it’s not enough.
I’m not really what you’d call a morning person, but this morning’s pages were done at 6am and I was too tired to really ‘think’ about them or analyze them too much — I just kept typing and the words kept coming out. Same theory as what happens during my night writing, but this way I’ll have given myself a safety net. If I can get the pages ‘done’ early, then, during the craziness of the day, would be a much better time for rereading, revising and working the already-written pages that are the puzzle of my WIP together. Then the pages I do manage to write at night would be gravy.
It’s a nice theory — now we’ll see if I can stop my love affair with the snooze button.
Please feel free to share your routines — I’d love to know how you all accomplish this process for yourselves. I mean, I like my all-day, all-night frenzy of accomplishment that happens once every two months or so and lasts about two weeks and gets me to finish a book, but I’m thinking I might need to push myself into more of an everyday kind of routine. You know, just in case THE CALL happens by anytime soon. *looks at phone*
Am I destined to be on the frenzied-writing train forever? I admit, I kind of like it there — it’s when the most fun part (you know, the CF) happens. It’s getting myself to that point that I’d like to happen faster, finishing that first half. If I practice the routine enough, can I change my habits or is it something that’s so deeply ingrained in a writer’s psyche (like the plot/pantser thing) that it’s not worth trying to mess with?
Steph T.
February 6th, 2005 at 10:00 am
Routine. LOL That would imply that I am in some way organized. Which is a 4 letter word to me. I am not much of a morning person either but now that my youngest is in preschool, I sit down and try to get SOMETHING done in that timeslot. My favorite time to write is still late at night when everyone has gone to bed. So basically I use both time slots.
February 6th, 2005 at 10:14 am
I think routine can be learned. I used to get up at 5 and write plus write in the evenings after dinner. When I quit exercising, everything went downhill =(
I think writing is like training for a marathon of sorts (or maybe just exercise period). I think the more you do, the more you can do and your brain/body gets used to writing at certain times. I remember Alison posting a while back something about learning to write anywhere and I think it’s sorta the same concept. Training.
BTW My youngest (who’s aDD) quit napping at 3.5 =(
I hated kindegarten!!! They used to make them rest and he’d be up until 10:30 at night! *scream*
February 6th, 2005 at 10:31 am
Sharon -I’m with you on the night being my favorite time to write. It’s my favorite time, period.
Cece - PBW posted about training yourself to write more every day too…that’s something I would love to be able to do. Write with more efficiency…
..as for the napping thing - my child’s newest trick is to fall asleep at 6pm FOR THE NIGHT and wake up around 4 am, bright eyed and refreshed.
February 7th, 2005 at 4:59 am
Steph, I’m a morning writer. I try to get most of my writing done in the morning before I have to get the kids up for school..while my mind is fresh. I rarely write at night..my brain is fried by then. Good luck getting into a routine.