Working Full-Time and Writing
(or for any busy writer)
As always, remember that these tips won't all work for everyone, so pick and choose what's right for you.
Working with kids and distractions, part two:
Writers around the world deal with either kids, distractions in the home, distractions at the office, or a combination of all three. These tips won’t all work for you, but they might help reduce your stress levels from “crazy” down to “only slightly deranged.”
Run away! Run away!
If you have kids, dependents or spouse who won't stop pestering you, sometimes you just have to take 15 and go somewhere else: garage, backyard, bathroom (don't laugh, many writers retreat to the porcelain throne for a few minutes of quiet).
Try to find SOMEWHERE people can't find you, or a place too tedious to get to so they won't chase after you with minor issues.
Don't spend too long if you're a caregiver--set a timer for 15-20 minutes--but find that place of retreat for your sanity and your writing productivity.
Also, prepare in advance--place your pen and notebook in your retreat space, or your laptop computer, or a few writing books you intend to read. That way you can just jump into whatever you intend to do for those few minutes.
Keep pens and notebooks everywhere.
If you get a magnificent idea while changing the baby, you'll be glad you tucked that pen and notepad on the changing table. When you have a free moment, you can transpose it into the computer (and even expand on it).
Many writers tuck those notepads absolutely everywhere--purse, bathroom, car, living room, kitchen, bedroom (even the kids' bedroom, sometimes), porch, laundry room. They're very inexpensive and will make you feel profoundly grateful the next time an idea hits at an inconvenient moment.
Be sure to have a pen attached or nearby. Some writers get the small spiral-bound pads and slip a pencil into the spirals. You can also tape a pen by it's cap onto the notepad cover or backside.
The one place I have a hard time keeping a notebook is the shower, which is ironically where I get my best ideas. I’ve solved that problem with those bathtime soap-crayons they sell for children. When an idea hits, I grab one of those and write on the bath tile walls—I make sure I write on the tile or someplace washable, and I make sure I write above the shower line or water line so it doesn’t get rinsed away. Later, I can transpose and wash the soap off the tile.
I also hate fumbling for the light when that infamous 2 a.m. idea hits. I’ve solved that problem with lighted pens. Sometimes they’re just novelty pens that have fiber optics, other times I’ve seen them referred to as night time golf pens or the pens used by traffic cops at night. Regardless, they light up when you click them on and illuminate the page. I keep them near my bedside with a pad of paper.
Just write.
Who cares if you got only 50 words today? It’s 50 more than nothing. Just keep at it.
Camy Tang
lives in San Jose, California. She previously worked in biology research,
and she is a staff worker for her church youth group. She runs the Story Sensei critique service, and her Asian chick-lit novel has just been contracted by Zondervan.
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