Membership How do you write them all?

[Elena 546]

I have seen people who prioritize writing alone vs RPGs. I seem to prioritize RPGs, because there are people who are really awaiting my posts (being an administrator also matters, as much as the fact that I hate disappointing people/ making them wait, as I don't like being left to wait either). But since I opened the new volume/site, there have been 6 weeks that I wrote averagely 700 words/ day or more, and none at my novel. And I need to finish it, I have 6-7 chapters left

Those of you who write both alone and with others, and of course have other life commitments too, how do you manage your time to do everything? I guess my problem is procrastination, but how to overcome it?

[Prophetess 137]

I have a lot to divide my time with. My kids are grown ups so I have a little more wiggle room to divide and conquer. To keep myself balanced, the forum stuff is pretty easy, the chatroom is when I feel like it (neither are connected), but I do make myself do 1 - 2 hours a day at least twice a week to working on my novel. It does take some self discipline to do because you don't always feel like it. So sometimes I'll take a day off from the forum or I may not be in the chatroom. It ain't easy but sometimes it's what we do for what we love.

[Arceus 1,081]

Essentially, I set a schedule for myself. This day I do that, the next day I do the other thing. I'm a freelancer, so my work schedule is really loose, but I don't let myself work on weekends, or beyond a certain number of hours a day. Sometimes I go outside that when I'm working on my own things that would qualify as work, but I just try to remember to stick to it. If no other reason beyond doing one of any of the above too long will cause burn-out. Typically, I can't write on both RP-things and novel in the same day, because my head doesn't quite want to get out of the game (or in it, depending on which I started with), so I have different days where I focus on different types of writing.

 

I might recommend weekplan.net for anyone that needs a useful tool for dividing their time cohesively. Seeing it laid out in front of you actually makes it a lot easier, and you can break the larger tasks you have down into smaller ones, so they're less overwhelming (because overwhelm may be a factor in why you wouldn't stick to such a schedule, if you find you have trouble doing it). General you, there, of course, because this is actually for anyone that may have similar troubles balancing things.

[Icewolf 258]

The only time I was able to do rp writing and work on a story was one year in Nano - I'd do the story in the morning and afternoon, and then I'd spend the evening rping. I really don't know how I managed it, but I think anger and disappointment at a number of writers whom I don't write with anymore fueled it. If I combined the word counts of both I probably would have hit the target word count quite easily. In the end, however, I didn't complete Nano that year because I ended up getting a head cold in the last week, something you can't guard against from happening.

 

Quite honestly though, I wouldn't be able to keep up writing stand alone stories and rping at the same time because I need to do different activities to retain my interest and I need time to wind down from it, so it's either one, or the other, not both.

[D-S 21]

Some have pointed the same, but a schedule can be your best friend.

Procrastinating brains like to take a long wide section of "free" time, and consider it of no worth and no value, or overestimate how much you have of it ahead, and so spend it doing whatever allows it to avoid the things needing more work.

By cutting your free time in sections, and giving yourself imperatives, you force your procrastinating brain into seeing time as little boxes for which there is a task to do. The deadline is not some vague moment far away, but the next hour. Even if you do all at the last minute, you do it much earlier than if your box was not 1hour long, but rather indefinite.

Schedule yourself to do one, and then the other. Use the writing the easiest to do as some sort of reward to congratulate your procrastinating brain for having made an effort.

 

Lately, I am deep in researches and in redacting texts for my studies, so I have days I wish to spend roleplaying, but have to spend reading and writing more serious and tedious subjects meant for a deadline far away. I divide my day between time meant for serious work, breaks, and time I am allowed to roleplay. Sometimes I rp on lunch breaks to clear up my busy mind. I try to not do serious work on the evenings so to rest the mind some.

Up to now, it's still working fairly enough! I am still slow, but I keep to writing 1 post per evening, and progressing my research during the day

[Vellamo 74]

On 05/03/2018 at 4:20 AM, Elena said:

 how do you manage your time to do everything? I guess my problem is procrastination, but how to overcome it?

I wouldn't consider your case procrastination. It sounds more like you need to re-prioritise your time to balance both. This shouldn't be hard, 700 words a day is incredible! Maybe split the time 50/50 or 30/70.

 

For myself (in case something might help): I am the same - I have my private writing (novel) and my roleplay I juggle. 

 

I actually do not schedule my time. Sometimes it can be overwhelming especially the more responsibilities I have outside of those. Instead, I turn my hobbies into habits. At first, I had to remind myself to do some of them but eventually, it became as natural as eating breakfast. So if I don't do it, I notice.

 

I also do not pressure myself. I keep tasks as simple as "play at least 10 minutes of guitar" or "do even just a sentence for your novel because that's still progress". Most of the time, I do more than that but giving myself tasks that are easy to accomplish, I feel energised and more productive rather than discouraged and overwhelmed. 

 

Also, to make more time, I make sacrifices. If you enjoy something enough, you have to make them. That might mean less time time spent on this or that/here or there but I remind myself why I wanted to write my novel, why I wanted to play guitar, why I wanted to learn a language, why I want to exercise, etc.

 

Edited March 9, 2018 by Kullervo

[Sage 289]

My life has been pretty crazy the past couple months, so making time for anything, especially writing of any sort, has been hard. And content writing is one of my jobs right now, too, so that makes it extra hard. Writing sucks right now.

 

What I do though is plan out my days. I don't schedule them out to the hour, but like on Mondays I'll do x & y, Tuesdays-Thursday I'll do a, b, & c, Friday I do d & f, and then Saturday-Sunday I do z. Then I  feel it out through the day, making sure I do at least 30 minutes to an hour of this task I said I'd do before moving on to the next. When I have timed deadlines or anything like that, I find I just get stressed out and procrastinate, but if I feel like I can take them at my leisure, then I'm much more productive. Especially with writing. It helps me still feel like I'm letting my muse flow freely. It also helps me prioritize what I want to do and what I need to do.

[Elena 546]

Thank you very much, all of you <3

 

Setting a deadline and actually keeping to it (since there are other commitments taking a good part of my day too) is what I need to do (and what is most difficult.) Yes, procrastination is a problem for me - there are days when I know that I need to write (posts or work at my novel) and I am watching FB and doing nothing.  Losing precious time.

 

I think I have first to write at the novel, and only after writing at least 1-2 pages (or how much the inspiration flows) to get to writing posts. Or alternating one day for posts, one day for the novel...

[D-S 21]

Good ideas yeah! 

On top of it, one has to consider their own brain as some sort of lazy and not too bright little thing: you have to assume that it might revert to doing as little as possible, and that you might have to use tricks rather than reason to control it.

 

But from this point on, it's up to you to find what tricks work the best for you. You mention counting it with page numbers, and if it works for you, then it's good because you can quantify your success, or berate your brain when it doesn't reach the goal. Picking a day for a thing, one for another is also a smart play, and it's up to you to figure out if it works in practice.

 

Other tricks I use for myself, I have playlists of 1, 2, or 3 hours that I enjoy and only listen to when needing to focus, like when I write. When I play the playlist, I forbid myself to surf the net or watch tv shows or do anything but what I planned on doing. If I catch myself checking out anything forbidden, I stop the music. It's like a punishment: no music until I get back to work. It's crazy how a self-inflicted silence can be uncomfortable and motivating. Especially if it was mid-song, or if you expected the next one.

It doesn't mean it'll work on you as well however. You just gotta find your own best way to discipline your brain when it strays