Tag: writing time - Mala Naidoo's Book World

Being a people-pleaser often impedes the writing deadline.
Some perceive writing as not a regular day, serious job, and expectations are that the writer is always available, because the writer is self-employed, locked in the head of imagination that does not,(by choice of some), demand a fixed workspace.

Write as a free-flowing creative. Be the rigid business manager

If we do not rectify this thinking, impositions on the writer’s free time could seriously hinder writing progress to the point of murdering the writing mojo.

Know when to say No

The writing mojo is temperamental and disappears if there’s no plan, the time and process wind up bending to the noise and demands that soon override it.

Being flexible is paramount to the creative

If the writing mojo is showing signs of being at risk — set down a plan and stick to it as far as possible. Achieve at least 80% of your daily or weekly goals with consistency to make a writing life productive.

A writing life incorporates many facets and significant among them is audience/reader engagement. To flourish in this career, and a career it is, if given every opportunity of serious intention, then it becomes that sweet spot of primary income or multiple streams of writing income – a way of life.

Turn off the phone – block the internet

Creating blocks of time to have regular hours that are not sidelined by the daily demands of life happens if there is a set plan.

Here are a few pointers to keep the writing mojo on an upswing.

• create a routine and stick to it as you would any day job
• set the clock – have several /number of words per session/chapter a day goals
• take your working day coffee and lunch breaks – remember ONE coffee break in the morning and ONE in the afternoon.
• choose your most creative part of the day to get your words on the page.
• leave your phone in another room, muted to avoid its cradle cry.
• get some exercise – a walk outdoors for half an hour should get the mojo back on track
• track monthly, weekly and daily productivity.
• note potential distractions and cut them out.
• the space you write in must be free of distractions – • no internet – no television – no phone.
• have water and a healthy snack close by
• learn to say: writing is my work life.
• begin your day with a writing reflection, FREE Writing (Free, Raw, Exact and Easy) as Orna Ross, Founder of The Alliance of Independent Authors, teaches or writing morning pages as Julia Cameron advises in, The Artist’s Way – clear the cobwebs to open the creative path to your writing day.

Now, what is holding you back?
Get to it with a further nudge from these inspirational lines:

If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word – Margaret Atwood

Without great solitude, no serious work is possible – Picasso

Like an ability or muscle, hearing your inner wisdom is strengthened by doing it – Robbie Gass

Inspiration may be a form of super consciousness, or perhaps of subconsciousness — I wouldn’t know. But I am sure it is the antithesis of self-consciousness – Aaron Copeland

Happy Writing, Happy Reading!

Best wishes.

Share your thoughts and ideas on how to avoid distractions in your creative day. Please like and share.

As writer’s, we have our unique quirks on what works for us and what is not good for our creative energy.

Time:

The alarm screams, reluctant eyes peer at the bedside clock, it’s an icy Sydney winter morning – characters whisper, ‘let me out, I need some fun, you left me in a dark and terrible place, remember?’ You heed the call, it’s your passion, your people, your joy, your story, your everything!

When we write is as important as how we write. I am a crack of dawn writer, rising at 4 am and writing from around 5-6 am up to 8 am and if a generous muse should pop by later, I resume writing in the afternoon. The morning is the pattern, the afternoon depends on work, the muse and other commitments. Then there are writers, like F. Scott Fitzgerald who picked up the pen at midnight and worked through into the wee hours of the morning. Individual biorhythms determine optimum brain functionality.

Consistency is key, to allow the energy to find you, to invest the time if you have a passion for writing. With a busy teaching schedule, long gaps prevented timely completion of a project started. Lots of stories sat abandoned on hard drives and usbs. Being able to pull back allows time for creative headspace and naturally hails the muse for assistance.

And there are writers who snatch a bit of time during a daily commute to work, or during a lunch break. The time is dedicated to achieving what the soul desires.

Place:

A sense of where we write is as important as, the bed we sleep in. Some like solitude away from the presence of others, that is my quirk, I need to be at my desk for deep writing. Stephen King in On Writing says, ‘most of us do our best in a place of our own.’ Although ideas can emerge at any time, and in any place – carparks, doctor’s waiting room, at these times a handy notebook/journal stashed in a handbag with a pencil at the ready is a godsend.

Some can do intense writing in a crowded café with headphones in place – listening to white noise for a few hours of solid writing. Such public places would gladly have the writer in their space ordering endless cups of coffee and perhaps a slice or two of banana bread, or a friand or other sugary delight.

If writing in a home with lots of distractions – children needing attention, wanting to play, or visitors popping in, then a neat garden shed with all the creature comforts a writer would need is an option. A Writer’s Wendy Workhouse, (although writing hardly feels like work) a place to call your own, for needed headspace and entry allowed to ONE visitor, the divine muse!

Some may write with the television on in a room filled with activity because they have the wonderful ability to switch off and become an un-listening shape in the room. On a personal note, this is not conducive for creative energy in my world. I can read and mark a paper in a crowded room, just not go deep into the writing process. I wrote a short story titled, Romantic Recreation where the aspiring writer had her writing desk in the garden shed because she needed to be close to nature, to hear the rain and perhaps feel it, in a space that had a corrugated roof inviting amplified sounds – birds strutting on the roof, a cat scuttling across, big drops of rain pelting down, or the deafening hammer of hailstones.

Equally the twitter of birds, flickering shafts of sunlight, the smell of earth and flora after a storm enlivens the senses if one is tucked away in a garden shed at the furthermost end of the backyard. Some writers rent a space to have privacy/seclusion to do their deep writing. Stephen King says the writing place should be humble, something I’ve followed through on his advice is to have a room with a door you can shut to make, ‘a serious commitment to write… to walk the walk as well as talk the talk.’ There are different views on whether the room should have a view or not – I like a window although some prefer facing a wall to minimise distractions. Jane Austen preferred writing at a window in the dining room.

Whatever the choice, tell the story, only you can tell, whenever and wherever.

A private writing space is a heavenly home away from home ~ MN

What’s your dream writing or reading space?

Happy writing, happy reading!