Finding Time

So, a bit of a thorny issue this one, and one that I argue a lot about with myself!  How do you find the time to write when you're working full time at another job?  Easy answer; give up the day job!  However, back in the real world, when you're single and supporting yourself giving up the only source of income that is keeping a roof over your head and the wolf from the door is not exactly the wisest of choices!  As John Lennon said "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

A few years back I remember reading an interview with an author who suggested that you should set yourself a word target to achieve every day.  He said that you should stick to this target even if what you are righting is complete rubbish that you will probably delete the next day!  He said it was all about discipline.  This always disturbed me because to my mind discipline and creativity just don't go together at all.  Also, when time is so precious why waste it writing something you know you're not happy with? I think I would probably become a little disgruntled after a while.

 I was therefore somewhat heartened by an article I read more recently on Goodreads by another author who also sets himself a word target, but for him the target is one word a day!  He said this relieved the pressure of deadlines and made him feel really good about the times he would exceed his daily word count by sometimes as much as six thousand times!

This is the way I have decided to go. So now when I'm sitting in the evening with my laptop after a day at work and I'm reaching for the matchsticks to prop open my eyes after just 250 words, I don't feel so bad!  At least I've exceeded my target!  I always have a vague idea of when I would like to complete a project when I start it - and I usually tend to end up way off with my estimations! - but that is just another benefit of self-publishing; you can work at your own pace and not have to work to other people's targets or timetables.  As much as I would love to be able to devote more time to writing I am enjoying the freedom that self-publishing is giving me and still, so far have no regrets!

Kim