One Little Elephant

I write on a timer - 15 minutes at my desk, 15 doing housework - and currently my most productive hours are 7am to noon. That adds up to 2.5 precious writing hours. I'm not useless in the afternoons, but I'm not as productive. So why do I regularly allow my morning writing time to evaporate while doing tasks that could be done at other times?

Today I spent 4 hours of prime writing time getting Number One Son's scholarship paperwork trundling through three different institutional offices. Mission accomplished. He'll have the money to continue school in the fall. That's wonderful. But I didn't get any writing done today. And that's not. I could have done the same scholarship research, sent the same emails, made the same phone calls, sat on endless hold multiple times, and done paperwork just as effectively in the afternoon. But I didn't.

So why didn't I? Am I really serious about writing? Do I feel that I must earn my writing time by making sure everyone else is taken care of first before I "indulge"? What is it that keeps me from maintaining a protected time and space for writing?

I need to do some hard thinking on this. Perhaps by answering those questions, I can overcome this odd writing sabotage I commit against myself on too regular a basis.

Something that's helping me write today: the truth that the sun doesn't need to be rising in the east to start a day, or at least to start a day over.

This past week I attended the Dreamin' in Dallas conference where Allison Brennan was one of the headliners. What a wonderful speaker - funny, energetic, interesting. Her workshops No Plotters Allowed and Breaking the Rules to Break In or Break Out, were wonderful and during lunch she gave the keynote on her general writing journey and some things she learned along the way.

None of her talks were directly about how to write three novels a year while raising a family. But I admit, I was listening specifically for that information (the woman is raising 5 kids and writing 3 novels a year!) and found tidbits woven within her talks. So, the information below was gleaned from Allison Brennan's three speeches. My advance apologies to the marvelous Allison Brennan if I misheard, misinterpreted, or got anything wrong, but here is what I learned:

1) All five of Allison Brennan's kids are in school and she works the entire time they're gone.

2)She writes new material at least 6 hours during the day. Then she works again for a while in the late evening when the kids go to bed and the husband is catnapping in front of the tv.

3) She has her kids trained to be independent/self-sufficient and to respect her work time.

4) She doesn't cook. She does healthy, but easy meals.

5) She doesn't clean. She has a maid in once a week.

6) She doesn't watch tv - she'd rather write.

7) She limits her volunteering. She does volunteer but she considers herself a full-time working mom and doesn't try to volunteer like she's a stay-at-home mom.

8)She attends her kids events, but isn't above working when her kid isn't "up at bat" so to speak.

9) And, like Candy Havens, she works the bits and pieces of time she finds - traveling, waiting in the car to pick up kids, etc.

Something that's helping me write today: taking time to learn a few tricks of the trade by attending a conference.

P.S. Over at www.4badmommies.com today, Amy Carson is talking about Guilty Pleasures. Come on over and join the discussion. I confessed to one. How about you?

Last night I listened to Dave Farland's FREE telephone conference class. Those who dialed in early got a fifteen minute bonus up front and those who stayed a little late (like me!) got to ask Dave a question. Very cool. As before, it was a full one hour class, not just a sample.

These free phone conference classes are really great opportunities. I put the class on speaker phone in my office and do paperwork while I listen. At the end of the hour I have learned something new about writing and (huge bonus) I have a clear inbox. How cool is that?

One of the ways these phone conferences are superior to simply watching a video is that they're in real time. That creates a sense of urgency. It's so easy to put off watching that video class because you know you can do it anytime. And anytime turns into never. With these phone conference classes you can't do it anytime. It's now or no.

So I'm looking forward to December 14th when bestselling Sci-Fi Writer Kevin Anderson will be speaking again (free!). I don't know the topic yet, but I suspect it will be good. I learned so much from his last class. In fact, though I'm still working on implementing the tips he gave in that class, I've already seen a real rise in my productivity from following just a few of his simple tips on being a writer.

Anyway, as soon as I get the phone number and access code for Anderson's free telephone conference class, I'll post it. So stay tuned.

Something that's helping me write today: Setting up an excel sheet that lists all my works by type and current status AND allows me to access those works with a single click. This is making it sooooo eeeeasy to get to work each morning. It eleminates confusion and allows me to switch between projects quickly when I get bogged or bored with one. Love it.