Welcome to Muse Monday!
Every Monday, I’ll write a post about writing, or the muse, or frustrations with the muse, or excitement about the muse, or whatever strikes my fancy to write regarding the craft of writing. I’ll also include a Linky. Link up YOUR post about writing, or the muse, or frustrations with the muse, or excitement about the muse — ANYTHING to do with writing and the craft of writing.
Hours a Day
Long ago, when my daughter (who is 15) was nearly two-years-old, I started writing. I kept it for a secret for a while. I’d wake up at 4AM and write until 6AM, then would turn my computer off and wake the household for the day. I worked full time, and often went home on my lunch break to catch 30 minutes of writing time.
Even after my (now ex) husband knew that I was writing, I maintained that schedule. I didn’t really write any other time, and I was always alone (or the only one awake in a sleeping house) when I wrote. Writing that way, two hours a day, five days a week, I was able to write 10 books in two years.
Starting this week, I will have six hours a day, three days a week that will be focused solely on book writing. The other two days of the work week will be spent blogging on my two blogs. That is giving me 18 hours a week to write – eight more hours a week – of alone writing time. I haven’t spent more than an hour or two alone for years. I am so excited to see what kind of productivity I can accomplish in this designated writing time.
I have a goal, I know. I know how many books I want to write before the end of the calendar year. If I’m able to maintain a good pace, I’ll be able to meet my goal with no problem.
God willing, very soon my current work in progress (working title of Song of Retribution) will be completed. Debi Warford has already given me a draft cover for it, and I’m well on my way into the story.
What is going on in your Muse world this week? Leave a link to your blog post! Here are the rules.
2 comments
I’ve always loved writing. And reading. So many words, so little time.
But, up until a couple of years ago, I had always limited my writing to the annual Christmas letter. Occasionally there would be the odd story line that would get formulated, and the first chapter or so written down. But then there was work, and housework, and family, and, and…So these ideas always got put on the back burner. Right now, there are so many of them back there that I’m surprised I don’t burn my mental house down!
The writing started after the nightmare. When all of your senses are involved in something like that, and the thing doesn’t leave for weeks, it’s time to do something about it. So my first book got churned out within a couple of months.
Not so much with the sequel. It had a large, energetic start, but now it is drifting at anchor. I had a large distraction, in the form of having to be with my dad for three weeks while he recuperated from open-heart surgery. There’s no writing for me when I have that kind of responsibility. When I write, I disappear inside the story and often don’t emerge for hours. Not a good thing when someone needs your help.
Now I’m home and, when the jet lag finally goes away, I can write again. Looking forward to it!
Author
I wrote my first book after a dream, too! It wasn’t a nightmare – just a dream. But I HAD to write it out.