Figuring Out A Daily Schedule
I planned to write this post ages ago, but I had a hard time deciding what to say. Then, as time passed, my daily schedule kept changing, and kept changing, and I still have no idea what I'll ultimately settle into. I decided that rather than making one post about my process, it would end up an ongoing series of updates with what I've tried and what I've liked. Because, surprisingly or unsurprisingly, writing really doesn't like to obey a schedule.
When I still had the Day Job, I often daydreamed what my perfect writing schedule would be like. I'd start every morning with a critique, to get the engines warmed up, then have several hours of writing time. After lunch would be an hour or two for dog walks, parrot training, house work, groceries, and all those menial not-writing things, then back at it for afternoon writing. In the evening I'd practice the cello somewhere after dinner, and read for an hour before bed. And I totally wrote out this whole thing very neatly in an excel sheet. I proceeded to follow it very closely for exactly two days.
I don't know why, exactly, I have so much trouble, or where the time goes. On paper, it sounds fine, no matter how often I review it.
I guess my writing brain just doesn't work that way. It runs on its own emotional energy that's difficult to predict, sometimes blazing on extra steam well into the evening, sometimes petering out before lunch. I may get stuck on a paragraph for three hours, or write half a scene in the morning that ends up tragically deleted in the afternoon--and when things like that happen, I get frustrated or mad at myself or depressed, and it becomes impossible to get anything of quality done that day. Other times, I may sleep poorly, and wake up too tired to concentrate; even if I try really hard, my mind wanders, my scenes peter out, and I waste hours at a time.
This is all very foreign to me, because up until now I've lived an extremely time-efficient life. In the later years of vet school, after my 6-8 hours of classes, I'd go to the library and review everything based around a specific schedule. On rotation, it was even crazier, managing patients, assignments, quizzes, travel time, and unexpected emergencies. At work, it was a balance of squeezing paperwork, phone calls, and inpatients between appointments. Yet with writing, I can spend a straight block of four hours trying to get work done, and come out of it with two sentences at the end. This complete lack of efficiency drives me bonkers!
I've resigned myself to the fact that I can't follow an hour-by-hour schedule. Now, the blocks of time are divided into morning, afternoon, and evening. I try to balance writing novels, writing other things (flash fiction, side projects, blog posts, writing group critiques, other obligations), and reading. The trouble is, no matter how I plan a day to go, it changes on the fly depending on if the scenes are really rolling--in which case I may push on with novel-writing for many additional hours, at the expense of other important tasks--or if I'm wading through molasses--in which case I may get too stressed about it to accomplish anything of use.
So, like I said, it's turning into a continual process of trying to hone in on what works best. I still have no idea, and it changes day to day. Stay tuned for future updates. ;)
When I still had the Day Job, I often daydreamed what my perfect writing schedule would be like. I'd start every morning with a critique, to get the engines warmed up, then have several hours of writing time. After lunch would be an hour or two for dog walks, parrot training, house work, groceries, and all those menial not-writing things, then back at it for afternoon writing. In the evening I'd practice the cello somewhere after dinner, and read for an hour before bed. And I totally wrote out this whole thing very neatly in an excel sheet. I proceeded to follow it very closely for exactly two days.
I don't know why, exactly, I have so much trouble, or where the time goes. On paper, it sounds fine, no matter how often I review it.
I guess my writing brain just doesn't work that way. It runs on its own emotional energy that's difficult to predict, sometimes blazing on extra steam well into the evening, sometimes petering out before lunch. I may get stuck on a paragraph for three hours, or write half a scene in the morning that ends up tragically deleted in the afternoon--and when things like that happen, I get frustrated or mad at myself or depressed, and it becomes impossible to get anything of quality done that day. Other times, I may sleep poorly, and wake up too tired to concentrate; even if I try really hard, my mind wanders, my scenes peter out, and I waste hours at a time.
This is all very foreign to me, because up until now I've lived an extremely time-efficient life. In the later years of vet school, after my 6-8 hours of classes, I'd go to the library and review everything based around a specific schedule. On rotation, it was even crazier, managing patients, assignments, quizzes, travel time, and unexpected emergencies. At work, it was a balance of squeezing paperwork, phone calls, and inpatients between appointments. Yet with writing, I can spend a straight block of four hours trying to get work done, and come out of it with two sentences at the end. This complete lack of efficiency drives me bonkers!
I've resigned myself to the fact that I can't follow an hour-by-hour schedule. Now, the blocks of time are divided into morning, afternoon, and evening. I try to balance writing novels, writing other things (flash fiction, side projects, blog posts, writing group critiques, other obligations), and reading. The trouble is, no matter how I plan a day to go, it changes on the fly depending on if the scenes are really rolling--in which case I may push on with novel-writing for many additional hours, at the expense of other important tasks--or if I'm wading through molasses--in which case I may get too stressed about it to accomplish anything of use.
So, like I said, it's turning into a continual process of trying to hone in on what works best. I still have no idea, and it changes day to day. Stay tuned for future updates. ;)
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