It all began with an email asking for help. The basic premise of the letter was about finding more time to write when working a fulltime job, a parttime job and maintaining a household.
In my response to this email, I discovered something about myself. Making time is not so difficult as we make it out to be if we just learn to make it. I had heard a few months ago about a challenge sent out to readers of a certain blog on MySpace. Basically, for thirty days, you do something everyday, something that you like to do or need to do but never do because of time constraints. One of my friends on MySpace took the challenge and wrote every day for thirty days. As I read one of her blog entries, I mused on the fact that it was a very good idea and I would like to do it…eventually…once I had the time.
So, after writing to this person on Writing.Com and letting them know of this challenge, I decided that there is no time like the present. My first thirty day challenge to myself is to work on the final rewrite of my completed novel, Past Vengeance, for at least a half hour everyday. I will post and entry every day (as long as I have the Internet connection happening) to state my progress.
So, as of today, Julie’s thirty day challenge begins. If any of you start a challenge of your own, comment me. If you’re going to blog it, let me know.
Below is my response to the email. Cheers!
“If you find out, I’d like to know, too.
“It seems as though the only ‘writing that goes on is the constant storytelling in my own mind. I mean, I have such great ideas and I find that I’m not writing at all. I have a novel that is completed and is in the stage of a final rewrite and I’ve only managed to rewrite seven or so pages in the last year. Yeah. I blame it mainly on burnout since I did work on the novel for five years or so but, truly, it’s because I don’t have the time.
“The thing is, I work full-time, as well, and I have church Tuesday through Friday nights at 7 and Sunday morning and evening, so I have Monday nights and Saturdays free. What I tend to do is everything but write.
“So, though the textbook answer is to make time, it is the answer. If I had truly wanted to, I could have sat down tonight and written even one page. I think that we think making time is setting aside huge amounts of time to write fifty or so pages (only truly possible if the ideas are flowing so fast that you’re burning up the keys just trying to keep up) when in truth, we should set ourselves reasonable goals.
“So, to make time, one must say, for the next thirty days, I will set aside twenty minutes a day to work on this character or this chapter or just this paragraph. Eventually, you can get it down to a system where you know that making time on Thursdays, for example, isn’t working out so if you miss Thursdays, it’s not going to kill you or your Muse, for that matter. Basically, it’s a matter of feeling out your life and seeing where time is laying to waste.
“A huge sucker of time is television and, yes, the Internet. It is so easy to turn on, plug in and shut off. If you try to work after these brain sucking activities, you tend to find yourself unable to create. Do you watch television? Right there is the time laying to waste that could be used to write.
“Most say that television helps them unwind but, honestly, there is nothing better than a half-hour freewrite, is there?
“I’m not down on television by any means, but back when I wasn’t watching it at all, I had so much time that I didn’t know how to use it all. So, yeah, make time. Take a hiatus from television or try just setting aside those small blocks of time as they work for you. Start small and eventually you will find your niche and all will be well.
“And I’m going to take my own advice and start the thirty day thing now. I’ve been putting writing off for far too long.
“Cheers!”
Otherwise, though, I did quite well though it did nothing to lessen my addiction and so I fear that I may be doing it once more in the near future.
