by Dave
You want to know one of the best things about being a writer? The schedule. You want to know one of the worst things about being a writer? The schedule. I'm sure many people reading this are having a good chuckle right now. I'm also sure that there are others looking quizzically at their computer. So please, let me explain.
In my last job I had an absolute set schedule. I was to show up to work at time A and I got to leave at time B. I knew what I was going to wear everyday and I pretty much knew exactly what I was going to do. In fact, when you show up at the Federal Academy the first day they do the "big dog" scare tactic of having your desk lined with piles of books and your complete schedule for the entire academy. There is a lot to be said about sitting at your desk on July 14th and knowing that on August 27th, at 0900 hours, you will be at the shooting range. There is also a lot to be said about wearing a uniform. It saves crucial time in the morning when deciding what to wear.
The life of a writer is not scheduled. You cannot schedule creativity to happen between the hours of nine and five, Monday through Friday. It just doesn't work that way. So you have to be prepared. You have to be prepared for inspiration to strike at midnight when you are about to go to bed. You have to be prepared to sit down at your computer, stare at the screen and think "I got nothin". But more importantly, and not very often mentioned, you have to be prepared for what people are going to think of you. I don't mean the people in the world you run into who scoff at the idea of a "writer". I don't care about them. I have enough friends. I mean your family.
For me, when I get writer's block, I like to do something that occupies my mind and frees up that creative part in the back to run free. Video games are the perfect outlet for that. Especially on my phone because I can play for a few minutes here or there instead of committing to an hour on the Xbox. But how do you think it looks when someone sees me with my feet up on the desk playing Infinity Blade II? Sometimes I will be up at four in the morning on an absolute writing tear. How do you think it looks the next morning when I am sprawled in bed as my wife gets up to go to work? Or some nights after dinner when your wife wants to watch TV together and suddenly a thought hits that solves all of your story problems you have been beating yourself up over for a week? Suddenly she wants family time and all you can think is "A computer, a computer! My kingdom for a computer!"
At the end of the day these are small things. My wife is my biggest fan. There is no one happier and more supportive when I print out that completed first draft. Even if her red pen as my editor doesn't show it sometimes. But there are going to be bumps in the road on the way to the finish line. A little preparation, and good communication, will make those bumps a lot smaller. It also doesn't hurt to write a nice romantic story as a thinly veiled love letter to your wife once in awhile either. But I'll leave that part up to you.
You want to know one of the best things about being a writer? The schedule. You want to know one of the worst things about being a writer? The schedule. I'm sure many people reading this are having a good chuckle right now. I'm also sure that there are others looking quizzically at their computer. So please, let me explain.
In my last job I had an absolute set schedule. I was to show up to work at time A and I got to leave at time B. I knew what I was going to wear everyday and I pretty much knew exactly what I was going to do. In fact, when you show up at the Federal Academy the first day they do the "big dog" scare tactic of having your desk lined with piles of books and your complete schedule for the entire academy. There is a lot to be said about sitting at your desk on July 14th and knowing that on August 27th, at 0900 hours, you will be at the shooting range. There is also a lot to be said about wearing a uniform. It saves crucial time in the morning when deciding what to wear.
The life of a writer is not scheduled. You cannot schedule creativity to happen between the hours of nine and five, Monday through Friday. It just doesn't work that way. So you have to be prepared. You have to be prepared for inspiration to strike at midnight when you are about to go to bed. You have to be prepared to sit down at your computer, stare at the screen and think "I got nothin". But more importantly, and not very often mentioned, you have to be prepared for what people are going to think of you. I don't mean the people in the world you run into who scoff at the idea of a "writer". I don't care about them. I have enough friends. I mean your family.
For me, when I get writer's block, I like to do something that occupies my mind and frees up that creative part in the back to run free. Video games are the perfect outlet for that. Especially on my phone because I can play for a few minutes here or there instead of committing to an hour on the Xbox. But how do you think it looks when someone sees me with my feet up on the desk playing Infinity Blade II? Sometimes I will be up at four in the morning on an absolute writing tear. How do you think it looks the next morning when I am sprawled in bed as my wife gets up to go to work? Or some nights after dinner when your wife wants to watch TV together and suddenly a thought hits that solves all of your story problems you have been beating yourself up over for a week? Suddenly she wants family time and all you can think is "A computer, a computer! My kingdom for a computer!"
At the end of the day these are small things. My wife is my biggest fan. There is no one happier and more supportive when I print out that completed first draft. Even if her red pen as my editor doesn't show it sometimes. But there are going to be bumps in the road on the way to the finish line. A little preparation, and good communication, will make those bumps a lot smaller. It also doesn't hurt to write a nice romantic story as a thinly veiled love letter to your wife once in awhile either. But I'll leave that part up to you.
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