On time management

[girliejones]

I'm practising efficiency by admitting I am sick today and spending it in bed. I''m actually about to shut down the laptop and do the thing you do when you are really sick - watch crappy TV.

So here is a great link via @tansyrr on Twitter for advice on time management. I have to admit that after running ASif for 5 years and working at indie press

Comments

[cassiphone]

Oh absolutely as a publisher you shouldn't have to worry about the private lives of writers.

One of the essential things about writing is that you cannot tell how much work went into the final product. You can't tell whether it was written in a weekend or over five years. You can't tell whether it was written by someone who sat down from 9-5 for 5 weeks straight, or someone who wrote it in 5 minute increments during naptimes.

You might think you can tell these things, but you can't. Not a bit.

It's the sign of an amateur writer to want to tell their publisher their life story. Of course, if a writer desperately needs an extension to a deadline, the publisher would probably rather hear a reason than just to be told 'I can't do it,' but at the same time it's in the writer's interest to try to get the job done.

I think it's important to talk about this stuff and show that it is possible to balance writing and motherhood, even if you run the risk of women feeling judged for barely managing motherhood...

The truth is, parenting of small children is hard, and the only way to preserve your sanity is to try to carve some time out for yourself. Whatever you use that time for is up to you - but choosing the thing most essential to your sense of self is the best idea.

If it's writing, then that's what it should be!

Writing is very much balanced on the ability to prioritise and to manage time and to have incredible self-discipline. If you can write when you have small children, you can write at ANY time.

And you know, some people with all the time in the world find it really hard to get down to writing too.

[girliejones]

It's true and it's not my job to feel sorry for the writer for the work or time that's gone into something. My main objective is to assess the quality of the product. So for me, I am concerned with being sured that there is a product to assess - that's one thing I do, rustle up work - and then look at the quality of it. So I am more concerned about getting a lot of finished work in so that I can find work amongst that to publish.

New writers often contact me for advice. And really, if you're not writing, or you can't get to it cause of the kids, the advice is ... write. And the advice is always *write*. It's the number task for making a sale - having something to sell.