Tuesday, April 1, 2014

My Wacky Writing Life and A-Z

I'm back! It's been a wonderful few months off, but I didn't get nearly as much done as I had planned. I'm starting to figure out the best times for me to write, and that was a huge accomplishment.

I'm such a fickle creature (speaking of creatures, please see below). Once upon a time, everything had to be perfect; a whole day to write, nobody home, right mood, right background noise--or maybe that was me procrastinating.

The next obstacle I put in my own way was my fear of putting the words down on paper because they weren't good enough or perfect enough yet. Pretty much got over that, and yeah, even after editing, it's never going to be perfect.

Then, almost a year ago I went back to my day job and boy, did that throw a wrench in things. I wrote next to nothing during this time--I edited my second book, but writing? Nah, it was a no-go-lost-my-mojo.

Now I'm learning to steal minutes here and there. Mostly "there," aka Starbucks at lunchtime. There was a time when it took me an hour to even settle in, let alone write. But I've found this works better for me than evenings, because I am absolutely worthless after work--I've never been a high energy person. And I have yet to discipline myself enough to settle in at home on the weekends to get much done--way too many distractions. Still not settled in to a perfect writing routine, because that would require being a full time writer.

But I've begun to write again. Finally.

Yeah, I know I am one wacky writer!

What are your idiosyncrasies?
 
What works for you?

AND...
 
 
 
I'm doing the A-Z with Untethered Realms.
If you like spec-fic, you're going to love the creatures theme taken from the creatures in our group's books.

20 comments:

  1. Heading over and welcome back. Write, write and you will be fine.

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    1. Hi Sheena-Kay! I'm hanging in there. I'll come by to see what you've been up to. We can settle in for a chat.

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  2. Welcome back, Gwen! Sorry your day job sucks a lot of writing time. We have to make due with the time we have, right?

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    1. Thanks, Alex. I knew you'd come by to welcome me back. You're the best.

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  3. Welcome back. Life will intrude on your writing time if you allow it. I know. I have been horribly guilty over the last few weeks. I need to get on some sort of schedule!!!

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    1. Thanks Robin. Life does have a way of intruding. I wish I could make myself stick to a schedule.

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  4. Great to see you back, Gwen. And I'm glad you're finding a routine that is working for you. I am not a high energy person either and can relate to being worthless after work! My brain just doesn't function very well at night LOL.

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    1. Hey Julie! Thanks for welcoming me home. Mornings are definitely best for me--also, there's that working gig I have going on.

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  5. Hey Gwen:

    Not to worry. I'm not a high energy person either. In fact, I get overwhelmed easily which leads to burnout. Do what you can and be happy about it. I've come to that conclusion. Especially since I have some troubled family that need me from time to time. This stuff takes me completely away from my writing. You can do it!

    Hugs and chocolate!

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    1. I like that, Shelly. Maybe I should be happy because every little bit helps.

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  6. It's not easy to get back into something creative when one has been away from it for so long but glad to hear you are doing this. I think I am, at times, one big idiosyncrasy

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  7. Happy to see you back! :) I'm a low energy person myself. It doesn't help when I have to chase a small child around all day. I just want to curl up with a book at night and then fall asleep early. I've learned to write with a little more noise in the house and with interruptions when I never could before.

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  8. Hi human, Gwen,

    Oh, have you been away, my human friend? Arf! My human has chronic fatigue syndrome. This is one of the reasons I take over for him. Please, write at your own pace and without pressure.

    My idiosyncrasy is actually my habit of letting my fictional human, Gary, become a bit too real.

    Penny, the pawsitive host of the Alphabark Challenge, 2014!

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  9. Welcome back! Stealing minutes here-and-there is sometimes the only feasible way of getting things accomplished...

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  10. Yeah, get back to writing! You and the other UR peeps have been so supportive of me during my "dry" phase. I'm finally writing again and it's because of you guys!

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  11. I was wondering when you were coming back. I was beginning to worry.

    Day jobs force all writers to work on a hit and run schedule. You'll find your rhythm in time. Welcome back!

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  12. Sometimes I think I'm more productive when I have less time available. Forces me not to procrastinate (I'm a world class procrastinator). Hope it works that way for you.

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  13. "Gwen Gardner" has been included in the A Sunday Drive for this week. Be assured that I hope this helps to point even more new visitors in your direction.

    http://asthecrackerheadcrumbles.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-sunday-drive_13.html

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  14. I missed this post! Congratulations on getting back to writing. I need to follow your example!

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  15. Congrats for getting back to writing! I know what you mean about evenings. By the time I finish work, the last thing I want to do is get on a computer.

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