How do you balance the creative person with the one that has to
There are a lot of blog/articles about the Writer’s Life: How to break in, how to organize, a glimpse into, and my favorite how to balance the Writer’s life. But is this really possible? Can you really balance the creative person who lives in her own fantasy world with the professional decision maker, who has to be present and interact with real people?
I personally struggle with this and have most of my life. When I am in my writing world everything goes to pot. Case in point, it took me over two weeks on semi-vacation to dig my house out. But this is a new year and of course, a time for new beginnings. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my life long search has actually produced some viable tips. But make no mistake, searching for the ever elusive balance will be my lifelong pursuit, though I do feel like I’m getting closer.
In an effort to keep myself from sounding to self-neurotic I will put this in a three part blog, because no one wants to read my ramblings for more than ten minutes. So here is tip number one and in my mind the most important.
Set a schedule.
You’ve heard this before. Heck, I heard it at least hundred times at the RWA nationals alone, but why? Because simply put, it works. Now, I’ve tried this at least a dozen times and failed all attempts. Previously, I tried to make other writers’ schedules work for me, but I’m not them and they don’t live my life. Then I found the key to sticking with my program—flexibility. Every day of the week is different for me, and at times my schedule changes from week to week. What I’ve done is to look ahead and set realistic goals. I put due dates on them and have a program on my phone that allows me to “check” them off as I go. (Sounds a tad compulsive, similar to the character Monica on Friends, but she was super organized and successful, right?)
Some writers have a word count they try to reach every day, but that never worked for me. There were some days when I knew I wouldn’t be able to open my computer, much less reach a word count. Plus, what about when you’re in the revision process? There were days I worked for hours and ended with a negative word count. Talk about demoralizing.
I make my goals small, but attainable. For example: Have the rough draft of chapter 3 written, and have a polished chapter 2 ready for crit group on Wednesday. I do this for housework also: One load of laundry, folded and put away by Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and one bathroom cleaned on Tuesday and Thursday.
When I plan out my week then sometimes…most times, something wonderful happens. I get ahead of schedule. This might not seem such amazing feat to some, but for the person who is always behind, five minutes late, and making the deadlines by forgoing sleep, this is a beautiful thing. I have actually found myself working on projects, blogs, chapters, ahead of my scheduled plan.
I will be posting other things that have worked for me. Now it’s your turn to share, tell me what works for you. How do you balance your life with the paying job, kids, husbands, and other obligations? I’m always excited to implement new tips into my daily life.
KC Klein is the author of Dark Future, a sexy futuristic time-travel. She became serious about writing three years ago and was as surprised as anyone when her stories took a turn toward dark and snarky. Today, she divides her time between taking care of her family and driving in circles around Arizona, too busy creating stories in her head to pay attention to mere road signs. KC would love a visit at kckleinbooks.com.
6 Comments so far
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I have a day job with a 45 minute commute twice a day. In order for me to get any writing done, I use my lunch hour on workdays, with at least an hour in the evenings dedicated to some aspect of writing: editing, world building or just re-reading what was written earlier. I also write long hand on the train going home at night. I tend to carve out a block of time on the weekends to write, marathon style. My husband is very supportive & encourages me to keep writing. At some point I’d like to be a full time writer, but it’s not a reality for me right now. So I FIND the time to write when & where I can.
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By Heidi on 01.20.10 1:40 pm | Permalink
I work a full time day job, which is 8 hours wasted when I could have been writing.
But I’m lucky to have a husband and three grandparents in town who take on the FOUR YEAR OLD OF TERROR often enough that I’m free to write in the evenings and on weekends.
I also have a smallish group of other writers in the area who do crit groups and writing nights with me. We’re talking about starting a Friday Night Work Night tradition where we take turns hosting and keep each other accountable to write until our eyes start closing in sleep.
Here’s hoping it works!
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By HWPetty on 01.20.10 1:58 pm | Permalink
I try my best to write in the mornings, and again in the evenings when the kids are in bed. My worst problem is finding time to clean the house. But I have since discovered that listening to music while cleaning gives me great inspiration for book scenes.
My man can be another hangup. My computer is in the living room (the only place that it fits) and he’s one of those people that wants the tv constantly blaring. I finally gathered the nerve to ask him to go away for at least an hour each day so I can write in peace and he is nice enough to go do yardwork or hang out with the neighbor for a while each day.
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By Annarkie on 01.20.10 7:36 pm | Permalink
I work 3+ hours a day for someone else, 1+ for a client, 1 – 3 for myself (marketing my writing and other projects), I have 8 kids ages 23-6 living at my house, and I deal with fibromyalgia. Writing is my sanity. My first novel just came out 3 weeks ago. I’m swamped without even thinking about cooking (food allergies at my house so it comes from scratch, not mixes) or cleaning. Fortunately, my kids are great at pitching in and helping.
I’ve been working on finding balance. My new works are suffering while I do the marketing and editing for the sold manuscripts. I like your idea of small goals and flexibility. I usually use weekdays for everything else and do marathons on the weekends I can for the new stuff.
Noise blocking headphones and iTunes have saved me many times. It’s easier to ignore what you can’t hear. Locking my bedroom door and hiding inside with my laptop also helps. I tell my kids there had better be flames or blood if they disturb me.
Good luck finding the balance. It’s tough, especially for us women writers.
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By Jaleta Clegg on 01.20.10 7:54 pm | Permalink
Hi,
That’s a great info. Thanks for sharing, really like your view. I can see that you are putting a lot of time and effort into your blog. Keep posting the good work.
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By Essays on 01.26.10 3:40 pm | Permalink
Your article came to me just in the midst of wondering how exactly does one stop the creative energy when it is happening. I’m working on my novel and finally it is flowing- it is consuming me. It feels brilliant. I can sit for five hours and get up once to make a up of tea. And then…..time to pick up the kids, and be social, and make dinner, and pretend to be interested when I really just want to write! It’s a curse
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By Kadey on 02.12.10 10:08 am | Permalink
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