Getting It Done!

I always wonder when someone tells me they are too busy to write. Busy is the new lifestyle for women. I think it's been that way since the late 1980s when the phrase stressed out came into our vernacular. I myself have a part time job as well as my volunteer work with the girl scouts, church and school. Of course there is family time, and I haven't even gone into the routine (mundane) running of a household (and yes, my house is ALWAYS messy). Then I'm writing my contracted books, and should be working on some proposals.


1. I get up every morning at 5:30am. This is the time the dh gets up to go to work, so while he's in the shower, I'm reading e-mail. By the time he's out the door, I can begin writing. Believe me - the internal editor is NOT around that early.

2. Yahoo groups. These are addictive and I LOVE them. Get rid of them. In fact, I just signed off of one this morning. The yahoogroup addicted to Jeremy Northam.

3. Volunteer to judge. I agreed to judge every contest that ever asked me. This is nuts. Then I narrowed it down to judge in contests that I finaled in while unpublished. More manageable. But with recent life change, now, I only volunteer to judge in two. My local chapter's Finally A Bride contest and RWA contest.

So...how do you get the writing done? I'll share some of my tricks, and would love to read yours in the comments section!

The Power of the Notebook. I'm a journalist by education, and we did all our writing at the computer. Believe me when I say that writing long hand is about as foreign to me as...well, a foreign language. Now I take my notebook everywhere. When I'm waiting in line at Sonic - the notebook comes out and I jot down a few sentences here and there. The notebook is by my bed at night, and went with me on any trip. I can't get over how quickly a few lines here and a few lines there adds up at the end of the day. What's best - doesn't matter if you're a plotter or a pantzer.

Voice Recorder. This is so helpful in the car. How many times have you been driving and suddenly the idea for a great scene or the one detail you've been missing pops into your head? Voice recorders aren't expensive, and I have one that attaches to my iPod. Outstanding.

Planning and scheduling. I have plans and schedules and agendas for every meeting and activity I do. Why not writing? In fact, one plan is from 10 to 1pm on Wednesdays, I write. I don't do anything else. In fact, I turn off the phone. I used to think that this would mess with my creativity - but actually, it gave my brain time to relax to be creative. Plus, I just love the idea of being unavailable.

posted by Jill Monroe @ 11:47 PM