So, I've been inactive for this last little bit because my hubby and I took our family on a camping trip for a few days. We had no cell service (or very little service), and it made it so that we had to talk to each other and spend time together. Which was AWESOME!
Anyway, I've been thinking about how to organize my days of the week for the blog. I won't be posting on Saturdays and Sundays because it's the weekend and I'm usually busy. But I will try to have postings for Monday through Friday the best I can. I'm a one blogger show and fitting everything in every day of the week isn't easy for me. I'm horribly at time management, but somehow I'm going to figure it out and get into gear and do it.
Speaking of time management, that's one thing that I've seen in a lot of author blogs when they answer the question: How do you find the time to write?
Well, the answer they all give is: You just do it. The Podcast show, Writing Excuses, talks about this too. They call it: BIC HOK. "Butt in Chair. Hands on Keyboard." Even if you don't write anything but the same word over and over again for ten minutes, you're writing. You're getting those gears working in your brain.
It's like exercising. You just have to do it to stay healthy and your skills will improve, and your stories will get better, and you will just feel better. But with everything, the starting of it can be easy. You just have to keep going through the rut time to make any progress at all. I've seen amazing things to those who keep going when they've gone through a rut. I am not one of those right now in my life. I am kind of in a rut, but kind of not. I need my exercise, both physically and intellectually in my writing.
So random thought here and it should go with what I'm talking about in finding the time to write.
I started training for a 5k about three weeks ago. This 5k is in August. After week 1 of training, I injured myself pretty good after my 4th training run. It sucks. It sucks so bad. Because of my injury, I have lost about two weeks in my training. I mostly go do the runs when my hubby is home so I can take the dog with me, and not have to push a stroller. So I find the time to do the runs. Because of my injury, I've been having to do some leg strengthening exercises and they hurt to do them, but I know if I keep going, I will get better and be able to finish training and keep on running further than a 5k run is and push past that rut and succeed. First I need some tools though. I will need a knee strap for both knees now, new running shoes, and if I can: new running clothes (just to make me feel good about myself and be more comfortable). Oh, and an armband for my phone to sit in during the runs.
Writing is very similar. I see Writer's Block, what we think of as Writer's Block, as an injury of some sort. Maybe we burned ourselves out in researching our story instead of writing it. Maybe we started self-criticizing ourselves for the story before it was finished, or maybe we were so excited about our story we told our closest friends, allies and family about it but some were critical of it and said it wouldn't happen, thus lowering your self esteem in the ways of writing an actual story.
So, go start again. Find the time to the write. Get the right tools. Go buy some books on writing. Take a creative writing course. Check out books that will be in your genre. Check out new and upcoming authors and what is making their story a hit on the NYT bestselling list or on Amazon's bestselling list. I have even found the researching agents and publishers when I get in a writing rut, or just don't feel like it gives me the motivation to complete it. Find friends, allies, and family members who will support you and help you with reading your story, and will help you edit. Don't forget though, you still have a lot of editing to do when you finish that first draft.
While I figure out what each day will look like on this blog on writing. Go out there. Read a book. Do a writing prompt. Listen to a podcast on writing. Find a writing group. When you get the right tools you need for the exercise, you will be able to get through your rut easier, and find that your outcome will be greater than you expected it will be.
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