Stories, Time, and Life

Yesterday I talked to my husband about “time-boxing,” trying to figure out how to schedule myself and how to deal with habits I built up over the course of two years being up-ended. Then last night I received a kind gift from Kristine Kathryn Rusch: her book on  Time Management. It felt as if she were listening to my issues.

I support her on Patreon because I love her business posts and I want her to continue to do them. I encourage you to support her as well if you have the wherewithal to do so. If not, I encourage you to at least read her weekly Business Musings on her site Kriswrites.com.

One topic I typically avoid in my daily blog post is Corvid19 and its effects on our lives. I think my friends get enough of that everywhere else. Certainly I get enough to drive a legion of panic attacks. I’m not doing that here.

This blog is more to me than a place to vent. It’s a place I come to find inspiration and goodness from inside myself. It’s a way to move my eyes away from what is going on so that I can continue to create. It’s a way to connect with my friends, family, and others in a way that fosters goodness.

Dean Wesley Smith is doing a daily writing report as he works on his next novel. He talks about his day in detail, including the non-writing parts. I highly recommend it. It feels like sitting next to a writer and watching him work. Today he talks about walking out into Las Vegas and how eerie it felt. It’s an interesting piece. I share it because even though it is a slice of life within our social isolation, it’s still reasonably positive and a great way to see how productive writers cope with the day to day realities.

The Cave Creek Kickstarter has been given an extra seven days by Kickstarter, which is a kind gift to all the creators who started their project in the middle of this. It’s passed it’s first stretch goal and is sneaking up on the second. The first goal gave everyone an additional book. The second adds another book plus a free lecture for writers (worth $50) from Kris Rusch or Dean Wesley Smith. I encourage you to take a look.

I started a new story last night, a story about a romance found on a fourteener in Colorado. I’ll be starting a second story today, probably set in Thule. Dean’s prompt is “happiness,” which means that it is right in my wheelhouse. This week’s goal is two stories, just for fun.

I hope you are all having fun as well this week and finding your way to an effective system of time management. Don’t hesitate to tell me your time management secrets. I’m all ears.

Be well friends! And stay well.

4 Comments Add yours

  1. You might try Cal Newport’s blog. He has several posts on how he time-boxes. It’s not something I can do (my job is chaos incarnate).

  2. Thanks! I will take a look.

  3. Also hit Sheila Chandra’s book on organizing for creatives. She’s a former singer due to a disability and went into coaching. The book is the best I’ve seen on time management for creatives because she actually addresses us as creatives, not as creatives who need to do time management the way everyone else does. Be a good project while we’re all stuck indoors. Cal Newport’s still got the best on time boxing though.

    1. Thanks! She’s one I’ve never heard of. I read Cal Newport’s book on Deep Work, which helped my husband more than it helped me.

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