Have you ever wondered how writers get all the writerly stuff done? Me too. There are not enough hours in the day for me to get mine done.
This is my list of the things I would like to achieve during my writer’s life week mixed in with my ordinary day-to-day existence in this world. Under the ingenious heading of:
Not enough hours in the week for writerly stuff –
- Social media updates: This includes interacting with other writers so that you can be seen and commented upon in turn. Building the platform etc. What’s the secret? Apparently scheduling. But you have to write the posts to be able to schedule them.
- Website updates: Plugins are always updating to newer versions, plus adding more stuff to your website. I have some plans including a new sidebar for instance,
- Blog Posts: It’s a good idea to write a couple of posts at a time and then schedule them throughout the month/week. But when do I do that?
- Writers Festivals: In-person. I went to one recently, I fitted it in and was glad I went. (Check out the post)
- Writers events online
- Podcasts: Listening to them. At least I can do that while driving or walking. So this one easily fits in. I haven’t even considered doing my own. Have you seen the list above?
- Reading: I fit in reading during my half-hour lunch break, or sometimes at night when hubby is watching something boring on the telly.
- Book reviews – see the point above – Blog posts
- Courses – Learning about the authorial world of self-publishing and/or traditional publishing
And two last but not least of the writerly stuff and are probably the most important –
- Get the words on the page and edit the other book.
The list of the non-writerly stuff
The list is long, so I will summarise –
- the mostly full-time job even if it was meant to be a casual-two-days-a-week job, which I can’t complain about because it helps pay the bills and all of the above.
- Housework – you know – shopping, cleaning, gardening, dog care, human care etc.
- Waistcoats – yep that’s what I said. I sew waistcoats as a sideline for the most esteemed gentry. I sell them at Steampunk and pop-culture events. and most recently a small craft market in Glenbrook, NSW just to wet the toes after a long hiatus.
- Renovations inside, (mostly painting) and out, (sanding and painting the windows).
- And casual outings, not to mention holidays, who has time for that?
What’s the answer?
So far I’ve been winging it. I try to write or edit every day. The rest I just fit in. I’d like to spend a whole week on my website to bring it up to a level I’m happy with, but I will settle for a full day here and there.
I have a morning routine before I write including getting ready for work, feeding the dog, etc. then I sit for half an hour to get the words down. I generally edit at night after dinner.
And everything else gets slotted in.
So, how do you fit in your Writerly Stuff? Any tips?
Take care everyone.
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*Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay