Oren went to school in September, and I decided to take a year (at least) to be a “full-time writer,” whatever that means. My goal has been to keep my schedule free from almost anything else— not looking for a job, not volunteering, not taking up major house projects— to try to finish writing my book, a memoir about rock climbing and motherhood in essays. There is about 25% that I haven’t written yet, plus continued revision of about 50%– or possibly more. The initial writing of things takes me so much time— getting words and ideas out of my head onto the page is a little bit like vomiting, difficult and messy but you feel better once it’s out. Last year while Oren was still home, one essay took me a full year to write, and I’m not sure it’s finished. Now it is February, and, more than four months into it, I don’t think I have much to show for it. I didn’t become a prolific writer all of a sudden, words just falling out of me every time I sit down. I’m nonplussed by how little I actually accomplish in a week. And I’m wondering whether Oren being gone is even giving me as much space for writing as I thought it would. But then I argue to myself, Sure it is! When I remember all the prep work I did for the few classes that I taught last year, and then the actual time spent teaching, and losing one day a week to be part of a homeschool group, I know that a ton of space has opened up. I think my problem is that working at home ends up being a very choppy and distracted time (there is food nearby!), so I’m really only productive two days a week. The following is how my week unfolds: 

  • Monday— several hours of writing get done on one essay,  and then, feeling accomplished, I stop; I read for maybe an hour or so later in the day. 
  • Tuesday— some more, but not as much, writing gets done. I will settle for an hour, maybe two, and again, I only work on one thing.  I stop at about lunch time, and I usually go to the gym to climb, which takes up the rest of the afternoon due to driving time. If I’m not a total slacker, I read in the evening. 
  • Wednesday— this is almost a whole day off. Most weeks I drive kids to school early, come home and have coffee, write my 750 words, and wait for my sister to come over because we workout together. Working out means working out with a healthy dose of conversation mixed in. So these workout sessions can go from an hour to three hours if we’re really chatty or have something important to talk about. Once she leaves, and I am left to my own devices, I rarely turn to writing on this day. I usually do other things. My excuse is that I have lost the best part of my day. It’s a good day to focus on reading a big chunk of something, whatever book I am into, or I can write in my journal if my reading has sparked any thoughts. Or I just copy down someone else’s inspiring words. Not a total loss of a day, but sort of.
  • Thursday— some of these days I can have another spike of productivity after my Wed “rest day.” I will usually work on something for another two hours. But again, it is just one thing. In the afternoon I am often social and will meet up with someone for coffee. Read.
  • Friday— usually I don’t write past my 750 words on this day. I work out with a friend in the mid-afternoon, so I have subconsciously counted Friday as a kind of Wild Card Day— anything can happen. Maybe I’ll clean something. Maybe I’ll just read. Maybe I’ll journal longer than usual. After the afternoon workout, I tend to lose it. It’s the end of the week, I’m tired. Working out rarely breeds energy for me. Time to start the weekend. 
  • Saturday and Sunday— I do not write more than 750 words either day, it’s the weekend. I know, I know, Stephen King NEVER takes a day off. On the weekend, I read, I climb, I go to church. “Non-productive.” 

Since I’m approaching the halfway mark to a year, I need to ramp things up. In December I came up with a “Rule of Writing.” This rule is my ideal writing practice, a way for me to check off boxes. I have just barely begun to figure out ways to implement this, daily. Here it is for your reading pleasure:

Writing

Daily Rule

  1. Pray— I try to do this daily because I think it grounds me in vocation, reminding me that I’m not wholly in control of my work. Writing is a spiritual practice. (30+ mins)
  2. 750 Words— also known as “Morning Pages.” I do this every single day, mostly. This writing practice is what got me back to writing on a daily basis about five years ago, and I will not give it up. I do this to get the junk out so that when I sit down to write-write, my brain is less cluttered. (30 mins)
  3. Write:
    • Manuscript revision— going back through and reading essays I have already written for my book that still need work. (1-2 hours)
    • New work/other— this could be new stuff for my manuscript or something else I’m working on that is separate. Or, I could default to a Weekly Rule Item (see below), like a blog post. (1-2 hours)
    • Weekly rule item (see below). (1-2 hours)
  4. Reading— usually multiple things going on here. (1-2+ hours)

Weekly Rule

  1. Book review— to post on my blog, or another blog a friend started a couple of years ago, if I want others to see it. Casual. Short. I have thought it would be good to get better at writing book reviews so then I could write them for outside sources.
  2. Blog post/social media— trying to market my curated self to others (you are currently reading an example, and maybe you got here via IG or FB). I should spend more time doing this but it gives me the heeby-jeebies.
  3. Free-writing/ruminating— riffing off what I’m reading. This is really helpful when I’m reading things that give me ideas to mull over in my writing. This is a time for me to write out my own thoughts in my own words alongside the words of someone who has already written something that inspires me. Lately I have been chewing on some Thomas Merton, mainly his book Contemplative Prayer. Prior to that I was deeply into Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. 
  4. Book proposal work— I need to start writing my book proposal, but I am always “forgetting” about it. It overwhelms me so I put it off. There is a lot of preliminary work to do before actually writing it, like checking out my competition and making a list of books that I need to differentiate my own manuscript from. This is time consuming and should be done regularly, gradually. 

If I followed this rule to the letter, I would probably be able to clock in about six to eight hours of work per day instead of two to four. This is my goal, that by the end of the year, I would be following this Writing Rule closely and doing six to eight hours/day of work at least three to four days a week. If I’m working this much, then maybe I can finish my book in two years instead of five. In two years, I’d like to have all the preliminary writing done and a Book Proposal ready to shop around. And I think that as long as I am “putting in the time,” I will feel sanguine about not having a paid job— It’s not about being paid, I tell myself. If I’m “putting in the time,” I can pretend that I could get paid, even should get paid. 

(Getting paid for the work I do is a topic for a whole other blog post.)

By writing