Saturday Night Con*cept Blogging, plus Time Management Basics

And here I am. Only 12:20 and already heading for bed. I swear I was a night owl, once...

Had an excellent day of selling Small Magics and Cold Magics and talking to people. Had a great time on the "But When Do I Write" panel, where myself and Rob St. Martin, Karen Dales and Glenn Grant all talked about time management and how important it is for a writer.

It was such a good discussion, with such excellent people that I want the share the highlights with everyone who happens to pop in and read.

First off: If you want to be a writer, find the time to write, no matter how busy your life is. If you can't, you really don't want to be a writer.

Steps to finding the time:

1. Organize your life. I use a system where everything that one is doing is divided into URGENT, NOT URGENT, IMPORTANT, NOT IMPORTANT (if you know whose system this is, let me know. It isn't mine and I can't remember, but would like to give credit where it is due). From there you can...

2. Prioritize the things that need to get done, in the order you need to get them done in.

3. Create a schedule that allows you to work on the important things (like your writing). Make sure you schedule your free time, so you don't feel guilty about it when you have it.

4. Build a community of people around you who support and understand your goals.

5. Reward yourself when you reach a a goal.

We also talked about the nature of change, and or trauma, and how either or both these things can really throw off your writing schedule. Unfortunately, both are part of life, and in either case, you have to let yourself and your life settle to the point where you can get back on your writing schedule.

It was a good day, and I'll looking forward to another good day tomorrow.