Jenny Sharp

What exactly does my writing time table look like?

I never really thought I had a writing timetable until I was asked to think about it. And yep, it was there all right - right in front of my eyes. It's amazing how little things like time tables surpass us!

My writing time table, Monday to Thursday, usually begins around 9.30pm if not later. It finishes sometime after 12am. Prior to 9.30pm, I have a day job and chores to do. I have to chat to my cats, the neighbours, take Millie for a walk - hmm... that intention is often good but in all honesty doesn't always happen. (Millie's old with an arthritic right back leg so long walks are good for her anyway!)

So, I've paid bills, bought food for dinner, and chatted away for a while. Now to cook, and wash, and eat and feed the pets, and do the dishes - I'll be honest and say I haven't done that one for years, or hung out washing either! Whilst cooking I've emailed, Facebooked and Twittered! I've had a shower and made a cup of coffee.

But wait, I haven't really talked to my husband yet - Hello dear, how's your day been?  Have I spoken to my daughter yet? Hmm ... We did eat at the table together. She's seventeen and doesn't want to know me anyway (tongue in cheek).  Better go and say hello.

As I leave her with her own thoughts - that translates into iPod, DVD, and maybe, just maybe, a book, I look at the clock. Just a little time left to make sure I've got together all I need for my teaching job the next day. Maybe I'm a little strange, but a big part of me gets excited about watching the clock tick over until it reaches 9.30pm.

9.30pm is my time. Me time. Coffee, cats and writing time.  In the back of my mind I know I have three hours. That's it. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. Nevertheless, three hours. Must go to bed by 12.30am and try not to think about the alarm and morning.  I switch the left side of my brain off and turn the right side on.

But then I quickly deflate. What do I do first?

Deciding What to do first

• What to do first? Make a list.
• What to do second? Read the list.
• What to do third? Attempt at least one thing on the list.
• When all else fails write another list over another coffee.

When writing another list fails, I tell myself to just get on with it. It's now 10.00pm. I berate myself for wasting a precious half hour. But did I really waste it? No, I say out loud to the cats who look at me with arrogance because the sound of my voice disturbed them. I tell myself I didn't waste anything. Even though I didn't put pen to paper, my mind was ticking over, warming up - the creative vibes are coming. Then I berate myself for being able to justify procrastinating so well!

Seriously, I do have a list, and another and another. And I do work through them all. I try and write the things I need to have done in date order. Writing such as my Cherububble Column, the Book Links Newsletter, and Book Reviews. Those I can't put off. I am bound to those. They need to come first. And now I've added Marg and Writing4Success to that list.

They are at the top of the list.  Next, I look again at the dates.

• Are there any competitions I need to be entering soon?
• Do I have completed work to enter the competitions?
• Are there any mentorships coming up soon that I need to apply for, such as the May Gibbs Fellowship?

It's now 10.15pm. If there aren't any of these to address then I can blissfully get on with writing. The only decision left is which manuscript do I go with? I have a few manuscripts on the go - which do I feel like working on tonight?

Monday to Thursday Time table in a nutshell

6.00am - Rise from a warm bed. The coffee is brewing. The cats are crying.  Shower to pry eyes open. Find some food to take for lunch.

7.00am - Arrive at work.

5.00pm - Arrive home from work and complete chores. Have a quick cuppa.

5.30pm - Cook, wash, email, facebook, twitter, open snail mail if it doesn't look like a bill otherwise leave for hubby.

6.30pm - Hopefully eat!

7.00pm - Feed pets and TALK TO FAMILY.

8.00pm - Double check my diary for tomorrow's lessons.

8.30pm - Shower, iron, coffee. Watch the clock tick, tock, tick, tock.

9.15pm. Cat's asleep, Millie is too. Jessica, probably still has the iPod hanging round her neck. Turn television off. Hubby watching television in family room or doing his own work.

9.30pm. Kettle boiled. Coffee in hand. Silence. Smile broadening on lips. The green light glows on the computer. It's ready to go and so am I.

Blogs, Books and Burnout - No More Fridays!

I'm currently putting together and updating websites. They are time consuming, but necessary.

For this last school term and term 3, I made a conscious decision to not work Fridays. That is, not to attend the workplace that pays my bills and feeds me. Without thinking about the loss of income, I now stay home Fridays and work harder than I do the other four days - writing. Writing for my website, and working out my new wordpress blog. After all, these are important for marketing myself and promoting my books and other writing work. Completing telephone interviews and editing/proofreading my work are also in Friday's equation. Friday is also a list day. Work harder? Yes. But when the hard work is passion, at the end of the day, emotionally I am more satisfied than the other four days I get paid.

Family, friends, creativity -  It's all about balance!

Emotionally drained but feeling content, unless my husband or I have something absolutely pressing for our work, after 7.00pm on a Friday, it's OUR time.  Both of us put our computers away and all that goes with it. Sometimes we'll go out for dinner. Sometimes we'll sit in front of the television and just be together. A toasted sandwich, beer, wine. Friday night is Time Out Night. The cats have to share the lounge with the two of us.

This leaves Saturday and Sunday. Saturdays and Sundays admittedly often go pear-shaped, as do Friday nights. For example, on the odd occasion, our son, who no longer lives at home, decides he needs washing done and just has to have something washed, dried and ironed by Saturday morning! He also knows this is the time that we have always shared, been together as a family unit, from way back when he was a small child. Always a cherished time. A time to talk. Yes - TALK!

No FACEBOOK. NO TWITTER. NO ANYTHING EXCEPT TALK.

Of course, if we are all too tired to actually speak and just need total time out, silent companionship can be just as emotionally healing.

Saturday and Sunday, from 6.00 am until whenever - 2.00 am perhaps - is my creative writing time. My husband plays lots of sport. Sport consumes three out of four weekends for him. It's his time with the boys. It's my time to create my worlds. 

I am so fortunate to have such a supportive husband and family. Otherwise I don't think I would be able to do what I do. Making time for family is vital for my work - my writing work. My family is what keeps me going. My family are the people who keep my level headed and sane. My family are the ones who can recognize when burnout may be about to happen - They nicely tell me I have my grumpy pants on and that I need to put on my happy feet!

What about housework? I hear you say. I did read a saying that once said, "A house isn't a home unless you can read your name in the dust." Occasionally, on a Friday, I look around me and think, perhaps I should wipe that film of dust of the television cabinet, but you know, I figure the cats don't mind, and the characters in my stories certainly aren't going to tell! I'd much rather live in a home than a house. My true friends live in homes just like mine!

Working through the night? Timetables? Burnout? Family?

 I think most writers have written through the night at some stage in their career.

Silence.

Silence can say more than words. Cat purrs are the only sounds I hear. I actually find it soothing. Their gentle, purring motors coupled with hot coffee and knowing my family are in bed safe, works for me as do timetables and lists. I've always been a timetable person. In my work as a teacher, I am constantly watching the hands on the clock move their way round from number to number. When I was a stay-at-home Mum, I would constantly watch the clock. Hubby left home at 7, the children at school by 9. The children home at 3.  So many things to do in so few hours! Where is that list? I swear I left it on the fridge!

Bring on Friday night: time-out night. Family-and-friends night. Leave-the-worries-of-the-world-behind night.

It's amazing how so few hours of total relaxation can motivate and revitalize the mind and body. As the sun rises over the horizon, uncannily at the same time the radio blasts in my ear, I am ready to celebrate another day of listening and learning and doing what I enjoy doing most of all - regardless of what capacity it's in and how many times I have yawned - writing.

copyright Jenny Sharp 2009.