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Joined: 5/10/2011
Posts: 69
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I am very new to all of this. Book Country, writing (for any sort of audience), reviewing, et al. I am curious to hear about any systems people may have in place that might help them strike a balance between time spent reviewing and time spent writing. I have a long list of books I know I want to read, re-read, or review, and am thinking of creating some sort of off site document to help me to keep track. Does anyone else maintain some sort of system of that sort? I have to do something because often when I sit down to write, I end up reading another BC book or getting lost in a discussion, etc. There it is in black and white. I am a BC addict. H-E-L-P! I am very interested to hear how some of you strike a balance?
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Joined: 5/10/2011
Posts: 69
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Good to know I am not alone in my vice 
I read your post on Noelle's thread, 'Finding Time.' (after I had posted this) and think I am headed in that direction. The hardest thing about dividing up my time is that I don't have a 'regular' time, or block of time I can work on writing related things. I am working on that though.
I have two young children who are not yet in school , and take care of three other children so running around after the five of them them has me exausted by days end which is the time I am usually able to get some focused quiet.
I will figure it out eventually.
Perhaps critique/read in the morning for an hour or two, and write for 2-3 at night.
hmmmm...
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Joined: 4/27/2011
Posts: 608
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Here's a (hopefully helpful and pertinent) thought, Tawni: as much as any of us try to keep to our respective schedules (howsoever tight or loose), it seems that inevitably the event-filled day comes that knocks you off your pace and keeps you from doing all of the things you’d meant to do in those carefully blocked-out time frames—followed by another such day. And another. And another.
Before you know it your schedule is shot to hell, your nerves frazzled and frayed and your conscience an uneasy, seething mixture of guilt and savage self-recrimination. Leastwise, that’s what used to happen to me!
To guard against such de-motivating, unproductive and unhelpful self-flagellating cogitations in the future I instituted an “Hour of Power” for myself.
The “Hour of Power” kicks in when I can’t keep to my rigorously blocked-out normal schedule of writerly [sic] activities. This way, no matter how crazy or exhausting or unexpected the events of the day, I know that at least I accomplished—albeit in smaller time-sized chunks—all of the things that are important to my intellectual/spiritual/physical progress as a thinking, feeling human being during that precious, golden “Hour of Power”.
Your HOP (terrible acronym that, heh!) may be different, but mine looks something like this:
15 minutes: Reading
25 minutes: Writing
10 minutes: Unfamiliar Word/Phrase Look-up
5 minutes: Physical Exercise (critical for desk-locked people like us; even 5 minutes makes a difference)
5 minutes: Flash Guard Memorization Drill: bits of knowledge I want to retain and be able to spit back at a moment’s notice: pithy quotes, scientific facts, bits of philosophy, psychology, poetry, etc.
I know this seems very weird and idiosyncratic and embarrassingly “rah-rah!” but hey—it works for me!
Maybe “The Hour of Power” will work for over-committed, over-worked you. . . .
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Joined: 3/11/2011
Posts: 156
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There's a popular tool out there for enforcing writing periods.
http://writeordie.com/
It's great for working through a first draft.
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Joined: 5/10/2011
Posts: 69
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Carl,
Thank you so much for the idea. I think with a little tweaking, (and perhaps a little earlier to bed, earlier to rise discipline) I may be able to adapt the concept towards something that works for me.
Fortunately, I am self aware enough to recognize that in order to maintain my sanity, I require excercise as much as I require writing. That is one thing I have scheduled in, without exception, at minimum three times a week. My mood, and hence my entire family, suffers pretty drastically if I don't have enough endorphins floating around in my system!
I have nothing at all against "rah-rah." (I was a competitive cheerleader throughout college) I am convinced we all need a solid dose of encouragement daily. Regardless if it is served up by ourselves, for ourselves, or if it comes from a generous friend/colleague/mentor, we all need someone cheering us on!
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Joined: 5/10/2011
Posts: 69
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Marie,
Thank you! I will check that out.
~tawni
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Joined: 4/28/2011
Posts: 60
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Tawni, I can sympathize. Book Country very rapidly turned into my latest and favorite procrastination tool. What makes it so addicting is that I can excuse spending times on it as 'constructive.' So, inevitably, when I sit down for my writing time, I end up scurrying on over here and reading other people's work, reviewing, and putting in my two cents on the discussion boards--as I am at this exact moment. It's invading even my non-writing time, like when I should be working on photographs or my website. It doesn't help that I have always been terrible at keeping a self-imposed schedule. Discipline has never been my strong suit.
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Joined: 4/27/2011
Posts: 608
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Typo correction: “Flash Guard . . .” ?! ARRGH! “Flash Card . . .”, of course.
To reiterate—this is the EMERGENCY plan: a fail-safe, fall-back-on schedule that you have in place to ensure that no day is ever a wasted day. Since everyone can find a free hour in the day (invested all at once, or as non-sequential half-hr. or 15-minute blocks of “You-Time”), the writer can block out that interval doing all of the activities that are important to them. In my case (and probably yours) that means reading, writing, self-study of various academic subjects, exercise and memorization of critical facts.
Cheers! And good luck with your “Hour(s) of Power”, people!
(Please don’t spend ALL of it playing video or computer games, heh!)
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Joined: 5/10/2011
Posts: 69
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L R, I have always considered myself a relatively disciplined person. However I have come to realize that though I am disciplined,(I can stick to any 'program') I often am guilty of taking on a task while lacking an appropiate amount of direction. This makes if difficult to focus all my passion/excitement towards an end, whether near (revising a paragraph) or distant (finishing my novel).
I suppose knowlege is power. Now I know, so I best go do something about it and get back to revision.
**Mosey's off to eventually sit down and write.**
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Joined: 4/28/2011
Posts: 60
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Carl, now I know how you're always coming up with pithy, appropriate quotations. Your secret is out!
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Joined: 4/27/2011
Posts: 608
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Guilty as charged! “If you would become wise, study the wise.”
At least I credit "The Greats" whom I quote, unlike that notorious raconteur and profligate strewer of after-dinner bon mots, Oscar Wilde. Upon hearing one of his dinner guests tell an especially amusing anecdote ending in a pithy quip which “brought down the house”, Oscar rather ruefully remarked, “Masterfully told! Would that I had said it.” Upon which utterance another rapier-witted dinner guest immediately shot back: “Don’t worry, Oscar—you will. You will.”
Whoops! Just did it again. Damn!
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Joined: 5/10/2011
Posts: 69
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KS, I am in that very season of life you referenced; Multi-tasking is a must. 
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Joined: 5/4/2011
Posts: 19
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Personally, I unplug everything while working, internet included. Even if I just sit there going bonkers, it forces me to eventually write anything to keep from getting bored. Sounds strange, but in the same vein, I wouldn't go to the gym, run for five minutes on the treadmill, then decide to check my email or see what's on sale at amazon before finishing up the workout. I also find it works best to avoid putting a time limit on writing and instead work on creating a word/page goal. If you say you have two hours to write, then you end up counting down the minutes, but if you have a two page goal, then you finish up so you can go and mess around on the internet later.
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Joined: 3/11/2011
Posts: 156
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For me the problem with word/page goals is that they really only address the initial part of the writing process. Now, they aren't bad if you're working on the first draft of a story, but eventually, you have to move past the drafting stage to the editing stage. And depending on what stage that's at, editing can be like swimming through molasses or a fast read through just checking certain details. So word and page counts lose meaning.
And the "breaking up the hour" just doesn't work for me because if I hit a good flow with a story, I'm not stopping to do something else. But if I need to mull something over, then I may need to get up and cook or do laundry.
Sometimes it helps to see if you have a natural focus that works with your body rhythm. For example, I do my best detailed editing (commas, spelling, etc) during the daylight hours and my most creative work at night. So I'll tend to edit or visit website more during the day. At night, I dig deep into the novel. And if I'm really deep in the story, not much distracts me. I've lost track of how many TV shows I've not watched because they were on, but I forgot to even look at them.
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