I was sure that being on vacation would be the perfect time to write. I wish it were so, but unfortunately, our cottage was small, so any time the TV or radio was on, it could be heard in all the rooms. The noise was not conducive to concentration. Fortunately or unfortunately, we were busy most of the time, either going out to eat, taking the dog for long walks, the DH fishing, I going to the casino or Bingo.
Anyway, I did carve out some quality time and strengthened some weak points in Forever Young that had been bothering me. I'm glad I figured them out.
I've come to the conclusion there's no perfect time to write. Because of that, I'll make do with almost perfect and work out some small aspect of my manuscript and try to come up with a solution, like I did this instance. That way, I'm still working on my book, even if I'm not flying through the pages.
What about you? Do you have a perfect time to write? Or at least a favorite? If you can't write because of other circumstances, have you thought of breaking it down and concentrating on one small aspect to make it better?
9 comments:
If I have no other schedule-disrupters, I find I get my best work on NEW material in the late afternoon through bedtime.
Of course, there aren't many days without disruptions, and since we're both "retired" and in the process of fixing up our house, we have no schedules, but are living in chaos and it's tough to carve out the multi-hour slots I prefer to have.
Vacations are supposed to be just that - vacations away from every part of our busy and hectic lifestyles, coming back refreshed and ready to tackle anew our daily chores.
As far as a perfect time to write, I wish I had an answer. A lot of times I get done with writerly things, and discover I haven't worked on my WIP. Sigh.
MORGAN--the perfect time to write? Is there such a thing? I cannot write a word while on any kind of vacation, road trip, or tour. I can only write at home. Best time? Anytime I have the house to myself, be it for an hour or an entire morning. Otherwise, since we're both retired, we spend most of every day in close proximity. We're very close and wouldn't have it any other way.Celia
I know my perfect time to write is in the a.m. I never have the house to myself, but I write anyway. I'm always interrupted, but I just keep right on writing. In the afternoon, unless I'm really on a roll, I do other things. I might do some editing at night, but probably not.
Marilyn
I always plan to write or sketch when I'm on vacation, but rarely do. My best writing time - in the middle of the night when I can't sleep. Total concentration.
When I first started writing, getting up at three in the morning, when the rest of the household were asleep, allowed me to have four hours of undisturbed writing. Also I needed to free my head of the build up of words. Now, five novels (plus other works) later, my body will not allow such enthusiasm. I try to write when I'm not engaged in other things. Being a pair of oldies, the time I spend with my husband is also precious. But, (isn't there always one?) he has his own agenda and priorities, which affect when I can work. I am much slower now. I have lots of 'starts' for new novels or stories but lack the enthusiasm to make that gigantic effort of a new full size novel. Eye strain is a huge problem too. I am incredibly slow and my computer skills are poor. zining
Even so, I take every opportunity to get on the computer. I do have my various blogs to keep up but I have had to let go of following most of the ing sites (they were getting me nowhere) and restrict myself to following just a few blogs.
My perfect time to write is "found time." Those are the days I'm not called to work as a substitute teacher.
My new perfect method is to give myself half an hour before leaving for water aerobics to write just the spoken words for the scene to come.
When I return, I fill in around those words with thought, action, emotion, etc. Two pages can become five or seven or more.
Being a Virgo, it was difficult to allow myself to do this, but now it's part of the routine.
I actually do have a perfect time, and it's like Marilyn said, first thing in the morning. If I can get a good 3-4 hours in before I do ANYTHING else (except make the bed), boy, am I happy camper. Sometime in that window, when I am many miles away, I might stumble downstairs for some nourishment, but other than that I can be lost for the duration.
I figure I will get back to this schedule hopefully once my youngest starts kindergarten. Till then, that time is fairly traded for him climbing up in my lap to "just type one word."
They might be better than those I would type later in the day!
I guess I'm the only one who writes best in the late night hours. I work 2 p/t time jobs, take care of my Mom who has Alzheimers, and have 4 young adult kids, 2 in college, 2 in high school. Oh, and a husband I adore, who is not happy about always having to "share" me with the heros I fall in love with as I write about them! If I get home from work after 10pm, I check my e-mails, then start writing about 11 or midnight. Usually by about 2-3am, I'm forcing myself to get to bed. Then if I get called to sub at 6am, I'm walking into walls and doors all day! But I've always like late a night best. Husband is an early morning person, which I find really weird and twisted! ;-D
I also love to bring my laptop with me when we go camping way up north to the boundary waters of MN...then I write while the rest of them go fishing! Nirvana!
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