Work First, Play Later
I'm back! I had a wonderful time with my family. Thank you all for asking. :-)
In 2009 my schedule evolved into a blog first/write later kind of thing. It happened that way because my husband began using the computer in the afternoons and evenings for his project, but now that I have a router, my schedule's changing.
It's time to work first, play later. That means I do my chores/errands in the morning, write at naptime, and visit your wonderful blogs in the afternoons and evenings. So if I don't show up in the morning, don't be alarmed (if you even notice, lol). I'm just changing things up.
I'm too exhausted in the evening to write, that's why. During the day I have way more energy to write but at night there's a fifty percent chance I won't do it because I'm so tired.
When's the best time for you to write?
I also need to shout out my awesome crit partner, Linda Glaz! Some of you may have met her at ACFW. She's a wonderful, faithful, knowledgeable lady who, I'm proud to say, just became agented by Terry Burns of Hartline Literary! Woohoo! She deserves this so much and I can't wait to see where 2010 takes her. You can see her glowing pic and funny blurb HERE.
In 2009 my schedule evolved into a blog first/write later kind of thing. It happened that way because my husband began using the computer in the afternoons and evenings for his project, but now that I have a router, my schedule's changing.
It's time to work first, play later. That means I do my chores/errands in the morning, write at naptime, and visit your wonderful blogs in the afternoons and evenings. So if I don't show up in the morning, don't be alarmed (if you even notice, lol). I'm just changing things up.
I'm too exhausted in the evening to write, that's why. During the day I have way more energy to write but at night there's a fifty percent chance I won't do it because I'm so tired.
When's the best time for you to write?
I also need to shout out my awesome crit partner, Linda Glaz! Some of you may have met her at ACFW. She's a wonderful, faithful, knowledgeable lady who, I'm proud to say, just became agented by Terry Burns of Hartline Literary! Woohoo! She deserves this so much and I can't wait to see where 2010 takes her. You can see her glowing pic and funny blurb HERE.
Comments
And I know what you mean Jess about being tired in the evening. I write in the middle of the day when my son naps. And I have also been known to write at night. I am a night owl though. Even when I am tired. :)
I'm SO glad you're back, Jessica! I had a dream last night that I was at my old high school at a varsity basketball game, and you were there. And you came up to me and told me you got an agent and we were jumpting around and all excited. Isn't that totally random?!?! Maybe it's prophetic...not the b-ball game part, but the agent part!
I think your new schedule is very smart!
Blessings,
KAtie
Thank goodness for naps, right? LOL
(I loved going to school sports games!)
I'm guessing you maybe played basketball?
I'm tired at night, but since I work full time, that is when I have to do my writing. I already get up at 5am to have a quiet time, and can't make myself get up any earlier than that!!!!
Glad you're back!
Welcome back! And YAY for your friend and getting an agent!!
Oh, I don't know when I write best, to be honest. Not early in the morning, thats for sure. My brain needs to wake up. I think if I could write at about 9:00 in the morning, that would be great. LOL. But, alas, I can't.
So I usually write at night, because that's the only time I have to do it. I also squeeze in a few hundred words sometimes on my lunch break. A little hear, a little there, it adds up. *sigh*
I'm a morning writer. Almost as soon as I get up my brain goes fast forward in the writing mode. Tried writing in the afternoon and evening but it's like sludging through molasses in my brain! LOL!
So happy to have you back! You've been sorely missed!!! Hugs!!!
Terri, it's freezing! Worse, our pipes froze...so no water. Bleck.
Krista, you're so right. It does add up. I think it's better to be in a flow of a little at a time, then to write big chunks but have gaps where you don't write at all.
Jaymie, prioritizing about chores is a great idea. I had to do that when I had kids. Figure out which ones I can do with the kids awake (folding laundry) and which ones had to wait for after bedtime (mopping). But now, I'm also in the groove of doing some in the morning and saving the rest for the next day, so that my afternoons are free to play. :-)
Thanks for the hugs Donna! :-) You're a morning person, huh? LOL! I can't fathom what that's like. Heehee.
Sounds like you have a good plan. I've had to revamp mine too. I've given myself a word count goal in the morning before the kids are up. And I can't read blogs until I meet it. So, no more early morning blogging for me either. I'll have to do it as I'm able during spurts of the morning. It means I won't be able to visit everyone as much! And I'm bummed. But I also know my book is the most important thing right now.
~ Wendy
Maybe your schedule will change later and give you more time for "play." :-)
(btw, I'm only on because I had to stop vacuuming to eat breakfast, then it's back to work)
Isn't that the way it works? I told myself the same thing. "Oh, I'll read these blogs now and I can write tonight." But then we get so exhausted...
I hope your days level out some for you.:-)
Don't rush too much. You don't want to fall down again. LOL!
LOL! Thanks for stopping by. If I had TV I'd be happy to toss Hubby a remote. Heeeheee! But...if I don't do some chores today, there'll be more tomorrow. The key is prioritizing, imo.
Hmmm... LOL....I think you've inspired a Wed. post for me! Thanks. :-)
Soccer Nut, are you Linda! *snort*
You sneaky woman!!!
Yay for you finding something that works better for you. Good luck with your errands, chores, and lovely writing. :D It's good to see you again.
Sounds like a great schedule, Jessie! I'm proud of you for putting writing first ... after your family, of course. ;-)
When's the best time for me to write? ANYTIME. I haven't found that I'm any more or less productive one time of day or another. As long as I have a keyboard under my fingers, I'm ready to write. Oh, but I do have a harder time writing when I'm not sitting at home in front of my own PC in my office. It takes longer to get in the wordage on my laptop.
Congratulations to Linda! That's WONDERFUL! What a super way to start the new year. :-D
Congrats to Linda, and I hope your new schedule works really well for you, Jessica!
Welcome back - we missed you!
It's much easier for me to write in the morning when I'm fresh. My energy levels slump in the afternoon, and I need a change of pace to recharge. Writing after 7:00 P.M. ends up with 1) a lot of stuff in the trash or 2) a lot of edits. LOL!
Blessings,
Susan :)
And I think you idea of writing first, blogging later, is perfect. I should probably do that because, I rarely get to the later part of my writing day anymore.
The best time for me to write... probably afternoon or evening.
Linda G.
I admit that I blog before I write too. Big no-no. *Slap hand*
This year I plan on taking the focus off of social networking a bit.
I'm pretty flexible about when I write. It all depends on my energy and motivation. Sometimes I write at night if I have a great idea and I'm excited about it.
Sometimes I don't get a good night's sleep so I'm tired the next day and can't think straight.
With kiddos around and a recent change in my hubby's work schedule, I don't have a set time to write. Really, any time works for me as long as I have longer than a few minutes to sit down. I do, however, like to try to work on my novel or plotting or whatever it is everyday so I don't get behind or get out of practice.
Funny about your laptop. I love mine and think it would be really hard to go back to writing on a desktop now.
Thanks Eileen! I hope so too.
Susan, Me TOO. I can write at night though, it's just harder to get started. The perfect time seems like it would be from nine to twelve, or something.
Kristen, I hope your move goes well. :-)
LOL Linda! Health Department? It's my heart that would shut down if I didn't do my chores. LOL Clean floor, clean kitchen, clean bathrooms, those are musts for my sanity. The rest is negotiable. :-)
Julie, nice and quiet is key! That's the best time, imo, because we can get lost in our thoughts/writing.
Kathy, what a great point about energy and motivation! So, so true!
Cindy, good for you for jumping on the story whenever you can. I agree about keeping the story in the front of your mind. It's always hard to get back in the groove if the story isn't fresh, I think.
congratulations to your friend.
I don't really have a set time to write. Sometimes I do it while it's slow at work (which is quite often in the winter; not real estate season until spring); other times it's in the late evening, since that's when I'm most awake.
Perhaps I should make a set time for it. That may be why it doesn't get done like it should...
Congratulations to Linda. Terry was on my list of three for the ACFW and although I did not get him for my agent interview, he offered to look at my work anyway, when he heard me mention it online. He's such a gentleman and so helpful to anyone.
I get up before dawn now and try to write for an hour or two, then again after dinner. I am super blessed to have this opportunity. It's a God thing, and I'm so thankful.
Nice to see all the regular visitors stopping in. I hope you have a very successful writing year, Jessica!
Jessica, I need to get back into the work first, play later. When I stick to it, it works wonderfully. Here's to us!
Seriously, I need to make dinner for Brian and the boys for tonight, because I am going to be a Elizabeth's play practice. I thought, Oh, I'll read a few blogs first. Then I click over here and see WORK FIRST, PLAY LATER.
As far as the writing, I do much better when I have the house to myself. No distractions, no interruptions. That's the way I like it.
OK, OK. I'm going to put that casserole together right now.
Love you!
I'm proud of you for the discipline, Jessie. God will honor you for this.
I'm forced to write evenings because of my job, but sometimes I sit at the computer, my brain as perky as a blob, trying to form sentences that make sense. My frequent cry to God is, "Give me words!"
Congrats to Linda. Terry is an awesome agent! Yippee Dippee!
You're next...
Congrats to Linda!!!
Early morning, when my synapses are firing and while family leaves the house to me and my stories!!!
Blessings,
Patti
www.pattilacy.com/blog
Hey Jessie,
It's pretty tough but at the end of the day leaves me feeling pretty proud. :-)
Hey Jeanette,
I hope my discipline holds! The words were not flowing today, sadly. Your cry is good to make. He's faithful. :-)
Being too tired to write is such a horrible feeling! I hope he either starts going to bed earlier or you find another time that works for you!
I hope so too, Deb! I get a lot of morning stuff done also. Chores, etc. It kind of makes the second part of the day more enjoyable. LOL
Ali, sun coming in through the window sounds wonderful! Thanks for commenting. ;-)
Hey Debra,
Yes, I've heard so many good things about Terry B too! He seems like a super nice guy. Thanks for the nice words about my year. :-) Same to you! And boy, I'm in awe of your discipline with writing! Go you. :-)
Janna, To US! :-)
Karen, that's SO funny! I hope your casserole turned out well. LOL And that you eventually got a chance to play.
Have a wonderful week!
Blessings:)
Congrats to Linda for landing an agent! That's wonderful news!
I'm a night owl, hands down.
Erica, I forgot you homeschool! Go you!
Karen, I'm like that too. Do better once I know some of my main house goals for the day have been accomplished.
And I love your new background:)
I do my blog after work, but before play. It's sort of an "in betweener." I wonder how you answer 54 blogs. That just blows me away. Anyway, I love your joyful personality and I'm ready to hear more from you.
Hi Nancy, an "inbetweener". LOL! Love it. Sometimes it's that for me too. :-) You mean how I answer all the comments? Whenever I have downtime is pretty much how I do it. It's almost like a hobby. LOL Plus, I have an insatiable curiosity about other people. And I don't have a full-time, outside of home job. That helps. :-)
(btw, my attitude isn't always joyful but blogging tends to put me in a good mood, LOL) Thank you for your sweet comment.
Best time for me to write - morning or late at night (when everyone else has turned in).
Can't wait to read tomorrow post. :-)
It works for me.
And congrats to Linda!
Well, good luck with your new schedule. I hope it increases your output. There's nothing like a high word count. :)
Hey Warren, thanks for stopping by!
Elana, you amaze me. Seriously. Every working mom and dad who write and blog, they amaze me.
Travis, that stinks. I hope you get some free time soon, or maybe a new schedule. :-)
Robyn, I know about the blogging thing and having to close down. I don't want to do that at all either, so I have to find a way to balance the two things I love to do. Although blogging is easier, of course. LOL
I do my best writing in the mornings, but that's not always when I have the time to actually sit down at the computer. I'm forced to write when I can find the time. And blogging I squeeze in any time I can which is at odd times throughout the day.
And the playing? Well, I still haven't gotten around to that yet. *sigh*
Thanks Angie! It's good to be back. It's very thoughtful and sweet of you to respect your hubby's wishes. I think God will bless that!
Hi Heather,
Thanks for squeezing me in. I know what you mean. The nice thing about blogs is that you can read/comment on one and then go about your business, then come back and do it again. They can be quick little peeks. (can you tell I've done that alot? LOL)