When do you write?

[Margaret Dilloway]

I'm just curious as to when everyone writes and looking for inspiration. How do you balance family, writing, and "day job"?

[Martha Barnette]

Early, early, early in the morning, before my internal editor switches on. I'm usually wasted by 10 a.m., at which point I switch to less brainful tasks. If I'm working on a book deadline, I tend to get up earlier and earlier and earlier, so that by the last few pages, I may be getting up at 3:30 a.m. Needless to say, during those periods, I'm not much fun after dinner.

[JeSais]

That's a good question! Currently I write whenever I have an assignment. Right now that is work :-) I write a lot for work. Not always the most fun creative writing, but I try to have fun with it. Then, of course, the problem is that my "real" writing suffers. It's like I've used up all the words in my quiver.

With school starting next week, and I can already tell from my first assignment and the reading list that I will be challenged, it will be interesting to see how I balance all that writing.

hmm. no wonder I'm not sleeping well !

I do agree with Martha that early a.m. is best (though 6 am is as early as I can go) Even though I am not an early bird, before the coffee, before the filter comes up, is the best time to get the good stuff going.

[Sarah Bates]

I schedule specific days for writing fiction when I am working at my part time job(s). Sort of treat it like another "job", which in truth, it is. On my writing days, I'm at my computer by 9:30 a.m. or so, break for a 20-minute lunch at 1 p.m., then am back at it until 5 or 5:30. I work in a bedroom converted into an office with all my reference books, jazz on the radio, and incense if I'm the mood. If I don't have really pressing chores, like dust bunnies in the living room, or an empty fridg, I work on Saturdays and Sundays, too. For three years I worked in the fiction around a freelance journalism job, but found it difficult to switch back and forth from fact-based, to fiction-based writing. I gave up the freelance newspaper job in April to work full time on a novel. However, I do have another part time job as an English department writing tutor in a community college, which I will not give up. I takes two days a week out of my schedule, but in between student appointments, I write on a laptop. I found I really needed to discipline myself, so have been keeping a time sheet since early July to see exactly how many hours I write as opposed to screwing around and procrastinating. I even log in the times I check e-mail which is now three times a day instead of 15 times! My numbers of pages are increasing, so I figure the discipline is working. Also, even if I feel uninspired, I write something: a long e-mail, a letter, something to keep my brain in gear for grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary. Even when I worked the two jobs, I published short stories which were about the only type of fiction I had time for. When I started the novel during National Novel Writing Month in November 2006, it became the most freeing experience in writing I ever had. I finished 20,000 words that month, then picked up the novel again seriously in April this year. By the end of April I had the first draft finished and am now editing and rewriting. Once into it, I confess I am obsessed by it. Regarding the former freelance work, it was fun, paid pretty good, but sometimes I look at the stories and can't remember writing them. As far as the discipline goes, working on those deadlines (and there were other writing gigs before that) kept me moving forward. I drank a little more wine then, but made it through! As for balance, my husband is a fine art painter, so I guess I'm lucky since both of us are creative we're more understanding of the need to create. He doesn't talk to me when I'm writing, and I don't talk to him when he's painting. Other than that we're a pretty average couple with pets, mortgage, a few friends. I also belong to a writers critique group. We are supportive of each other, encourage each other and help the process along. I hope this helps you. A writing teacher once told me the only way to write is to do it.

[Erica]

New here. In my current job-life situation, fiction writing happens in the evening. Lots of work writing during the day. Sometimes on airplanes, in hotel rooms, or other moments that I can steal.

[Richard]

I actually have to take a day off from work, when I feel the need to write. I can't write when my family is at home, as everyone needs something, or there's too many distractions and I can't slip into the world of my book.

As for the inspirations, it's always the same 14 songs, each representing a chapter in the book. Each song basically writes the chapter for me in my head and I just write down what I see.

[Michael A. Wolf]

After my wife heads off to bed (she has a real job); about 10 or 11pm, and well into the wee hours of the morning. I can't function during the day, so I certainly can't write then. I'm far too much of a night person. Luckily, my job is being a writer and writing teacher, so the balance is already there.

[Pete]

I write less than most. When I'm stuck I read and that is often.

I usually write after midnight and half in the bag. That probably won't help you.

I like to write right after a workshop. That way I can read the notes others gave me and not spend too much time focusing on the negative and use the notes to make corrections and other changes.

I write about 200-500 words a day. Not much.

[Tyger Burch]

I tend to write in odd spurts. I've read that no matter what you should try to crank out three pages a day and that helps you focus. When I used to use Microsoft Word I tried that but now I use a different program make specifically for writers so there's only a word count. I think I put in any where from 500 - 1k words a day.

I play music that keeps me inspired through out my writing as well. Right now my playlist has everything from Hip Hop to Blues to stuff like Amy Whinehouse for those depressing moments in the story. HA! But if you want to know how I juggle the writing the work and the family, I don't. Each one gets its time and unfortunately the writing is on the bottom of that totem pole. Besides when I take time out to drop everything and play with them and the idea I have is lost to the breeze, I assume it probably wasn't a stroke of genius to begin with.

[Margaret Dilloway]

What program do you use, Tyger?

"...the idea I have is lost to the breeze, I assume it probably wasn't a stroke of genius to begin with." I think that's absolutely true! If was good, your brain will remember.

[Tyger Burch]

I used to be so angry at myself when I didn't just stop everything and start writing the moment a decent idea popped into my head. Now I'm writing this novel and its a culmination of great ideas I had for a bunch of short stories or other books that just never hit the page. Do I wish I picked up the pen back then, sure. Do I beat myself up over it. Nah. Because of those half baked I ideas I putting together something that I think is all together different and that can't be that bad at all. Besides even now ideas that I thought would be solid gold in this book are being adjusted or just plain tossed out for better (I hope better) stuff.

[Scott Stambach]

Hey Margaret, I somehow manage to balance fiction writing with a career as a teacher and being a student. For me the key is keeping an honest-to-God, uncompromisingly sacrosanct 1-2 hours every evening for writing. I once heard a very lovely and apropos saying "You'll never have time to do anything. You need to make time." This is unbearably true, which is why I make these 1-2 hours sacrosanct and carry them out at all costs. Furthermore, it doesn't matter whether I "feel" like writing or not. Whether or not I "feel" like writing is irrelevant. I simply write because I value the art of writing. If you wait until you "feel" like it, you're brain will come up with any excuse to avoid it. And not once, never, ever have I regretted writing after I didn't "feel" like it.

[Tyger Burch]

"You'll never have time to do anything. You need to make time." Ain't that the truth!