My local RWA chapter met last Saturday. It was the first one I attended in a quite a while. It was great to see everyone and reconnect with old acquaintances even though the visits were short. As I spoke with a fellow writer about her writing and goals, etc. she expressed a lot of the same frustrations that I have, namely a too-full schedule. She also works full time. So, she wakes very early in the morning to write, revise, critique, promote or whatever her writing called for that day prior to her mortgage-paying job. Then she comes home from work and spends a couples hours with her husband to watch T.V. or whatever she's too tired to drag herself in front of the computer and try to get anymore work done that day, which only made her feel guilty for wasting the time she spent with her husband.
I could understand exactly how she felt; she had wasted precious time watching T.V. instead plucking away at the keyboard. But honestly should we feel guilty for spending time with family regardless of how that time is spent? Just as we need to set schedules and goals for our writing we also need to set aside family time. It’s so easy to get carried away in our own fantasy land so that’s where we want to stay. Block everyone and everything out. Concentrate on page numbers and set goals.
Don’t worry about how many pages this person or that person is cranking out in a day. Don’t compare yourself to other writers. When I joined my first critique group many years ago, it bothered me when I would hear other writers talk about how many pages or words they would write in a day. And then I stopped comparing myself to others. I know I’m not a fast writer. I don't have as much time to write as others do. Like some, I can’t push out pages and pages of writing a day. But I don’t have to go back and do multiple drafts unlike others. So push yourself, that’s the only way to improve. But know it doesn’t matter what others around you are doing. Set reasonable goals and don’t feel guilty if real life gets in the way.
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