Guest Author: Courtney Rene (giveaway)

 

What are your Writing Habits?
By Courtney Rene

I get asked again and again, when do you write?  Honestly, this is one of the hardest parts of being a writer.  Just finding the time to sit down and write.  My life is very busy.  In my real life, I hold a job.  That means from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. I am on the clock for someone else.  I use my lunch hour very well though.  I do most of my administrative work (and surprisingly writing has a TON of admin work) during my lunch hour.  I return emails, I research, I work on promotion, I blog hop.  I get a lot of stuff done in that one measly little hour.  The more I can get done during my lunch, the less I have to do when I want to, and can actually be…writing.  Some days it’s hard, as I want to go for a walk in the park, or stop over at Kohl’s and browse around, or best of all, hit the shoe store for the seasonal sale, but I have to really buckle down some times and can’t do those things.  Yes, there are days that I NEED to get out and I take those days.  But, on the other hand if I have deadlines or something, I have to suck it up and focus. 

After work, I get deal with my life of being a wife and mother.  The things like dinner, laundry, homework, boy drama, girl drama, and all that comes with being a wife and mother.  These always take precedent over my writing.  There are a few little writer moments now and then, such as dance class.  I spend a lot of time, and I mean a LOT, at dance studios.  Yes, there was an ‘S’ on studio.  Seren, my youngest, takes Ballet, Jazz, Ballroom and Salsa and now has gotten a part in the Christmas Nutcracker performance through the local dance company. Each class can run an hour or two, and that’s a lot of hours waiting.  I do editing and revision work during these times.  Not always, I admit it, sometimes I can’t concentrate with the loud music going on or the “dance” drama circling about the studio, but if I have work to do, I bring it along and do what I can. 

I also spend time at the barn and at fairs for my oldest daughter, Sidney.  She is a fair horse rider that barrel races.  So, I don’t get much writing done on the weekends either when the fair season is in full swing.  I am usually eating dust along the edge of the track watching the races.

Well then, back to the question of:  when do I actually write?  At 10:00 p.m. both my girls are in bed and quite.  My husband is sitting in his chair watching the news or whatever, and me?  I am sitting in front of my computer, ipod plugged in and loud, and I am writing.  Some days just long enough to finish a chapter.  Some days until my eyes are dry and gritty.  I write in the dark of the night, when the world is finally still and quite.  When no one needs me for anything, when there are no more chores to be accomplished, I write.

Being a writer is no easy job.  You have to make time, and find time, and will time for it.  EVERY SINGLE DAY.  You have to make writing into a habit, just like brushing your teeth.  Find a schedule that works for you and set it.  Do it.  Accomplish it.  You have to have a strong determination or you will fail, especially if your life is as busy as mine.  It is possible though.  It is do’able.  Trust me on this one.  I know. 

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