A question for my writer friends...
If you share my interest in writing (and so many of you do!), I have a question for you. How do you manage to find the time for your writing? Is writing your full-time job? Gosh, I can only wish that writing was my job. As it is, my student and work obligations keep me busy all day. I can't seem to find the space to write on a sustained basis. I'm worried that because of that, my writing suffers. That happens in two ways: 1. My stories never get finished and 2. My skill as a writer isn't built up. Dang it, if only I could devote h more energy to my writing projects. I have a ton of them going right now. (That could be part of the problem. Do you think it would help if I stuck with just one?)
There's a light at the end of the tunnel, though. I've chosen an English major for my undergrad degree. At my school, the English major has a few different "tracks" that students can do. I picked the creative writing track. So now creative writing will be built into my school schedule. Creative writing will be my HOMEWORK. I love the fact that I'll actually get to pursue writing to the fullest. I'm a senior this year, and I'm taking Advanced Fiction Writing. It's going to be so fun.
Another option I have is doing what's called an "independent study" later this semester. An independent study is exactly what it sounds like--time for you to work on your own stuff in a structured way. Since I'm officially a creative writing student, my "own stuff" means fiction. I've already checked with my professors, and they said it would be fine for me to take an independent study to finish up my novel. That's pretty much the only way I'll be able to devote enough attention to the novel and finally get 'er done. So right now I'm thinking that I will do an independent study.
Hopefully that will help alleviate my frustration about not having enough time to write. How do you fit writing into your schedule?
(Time for a nerdy picture: A page from the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, my literary theory textbook. This kind of thing helps me learn about writing but also keeps me from doing it myself. I took the picture during my sophomore year.)
There's a light at the end of the tunnel, though. I've chosen an English major for my undergrad degree. At my school, the English major has a few different "tracks" that students can do. I picked the creative writing track. So now creative writing will be built into my school schedule. Creative writing will be my HOMEWORK. I love the fact that I'll actually get to pursue writing to the fullest. I'm a senior this year, and I'm taking Advanced Fiction Writing. It's going to be so fun.
Another option I have is doing what's called an "independent study" later this semester. An independent study is exactly what it sounds like--time for you to work on your own stuff in a structured way. Since I'm officially a creative writing student, my "own stuff" means fiction. I've already checked with my professors, and they said it would be fine for me to take an independent study to finish up my novel. That's pretty much the only way I'll be able to devote enough attention to the novel and finally get 'er done. So right now I'm thinking that I will do an independent study.
Hopefully that will help alleviate my frustration about not having enough time to write. How do you fit writing into your schedule?
(Time for a nerdy picture: A page from the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism, my literary theory textbook. This kind of thing helps me learn about writing but also keeps me from doing it myself. I took the picture during my sophomore year.)