I am having an uphill day of work. It's my own fault for taking a week off after the viva, really, and leaving the book to wander off on its own and fall in with a bad crowd.
After my epiphany the other week, I am a lot happier with the direction in which the book is going. When I get tired, I start to battle insidious cliches that - well, I would say weasel, but I am a fan of weasels - that snake their way into my narrative. Cliches are easier. They are shortcuts. Everyone can recognise the wise teacher-mentor, the sulky teenager, the smug married couple. Cliches are easy, flat, convenient things, like sliced and processed cheese. And equally tasteless. I realised a couple of weeks ago that I was venturing into cliched territory, and ended up cutting about 10,000 words. Now there's an enormous gap in the middle. A cliched plot device would be a marvellous way to slap a band-aid on this hole, but I'm resisting! I promise. No more quick fixes. It's hard slog all the way.
When I started work on Current Book afresh after finishing the Ngozi revisions, the words "be more ambitious" kept running through my mind. I think that it is our job, as writers, to always bite off more than we can chew. Or, at least, more than we think we can chew. (See how those cliches like to sidle in when you least expect them? Bastards!). Every new project you tackle should be harder than the last - otherwise, what will you learn? The book I'm working on now is difficult in new and inventive ways, and requires a lot more skill than the last. But that's how it should be, I think.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Working from home and staying sane
Lately a few people have been asking me how I stay disciplined while working from home. I would love to say that I get up at dawn every morning and work out for an hour before eating a bowl of muesli and sitting down at my desk for nine hours straight, but that would be an enormous lie. I did get up at 5am for a month or so, when I was finishing up some revisions, but I couldn't keep it up for long. Steely, self-denying discipline does not work for me. At least, not long-term. It only works for two or three days before I start to rebel and resist.
Working from home, for me, is like babysitting a small, highly excitable child who jumps up and down saying, "I want to stay in my pyjamas all day and eat ice cream for breakfast and play with my toys and watch movies and collect bugs in a jar!" Of course, sometimes it is all right to do these things. But then we also need to get some work done, don't we? So we cajole and persuade and even trick the small child into sitting quietly at a desk for a few hours.
Here are some of the other things that have been very helpful for me - in no particular order.
Be healthy
This may sound obvious, but go to bed at a reasonable time, drink plenty of water, eat healthy food and exercise. This applies to any job, of course, but I think it is (somewhat ironically) easier to mistreat your body when you are working from home. It's all right to pull an all-nighter now and then, but if you do it too often you will burn out. Healthy eating and exercise are also essential if you are a sedentary mammal like me. It's easy to snack on unhealthy things when the fridge is only a few steps away. Know your weaknesses! Mine is chocolate, and I have absolutely no self-control if there is a block of chocolate in the cupboard (LOML will back me up on this). So I don't have any in the house. This means that, if I feel a craving, I have to walk to the supermarket to get some.
(Of course, I do this about once a week. But it could be worse).
Get up and dressed in the morning as if you have a 'regular' job
Psychologically, this makes a huge difference. It's why I started a style blog - as a way to encourage myself to keep making an effort, even if no one sees me all day.
(If I'm feeling particularly uninspired, I'll wear a 'special occasion' dress. Usually adds a bit of sparkle!)
Set mini-deadlines
This works wonders for me, as I love nothing more than pottering about on the Internet and tweeting every few minutes. I set my cellphone alarm to ring in fifteen minutes' time, and then work furiously until it rings. I'm allowed a five minute break to check emails or indulge in any of my many online distractions, and then I set the alarm again. This usually results in two hours or so of very productive work before I need a longer break.
Keep up with the housework
I have a complicated relationship with housework. I am a clean freak, and, if I allowed myself to, I would spend hours scrubbing things that should probably never be scrubbed. To get work done at home, however, I have to relax my standards a little bit to avoid going crazy.
The curse of perfectionism is a tendency to 'all or nothing' thinking: "If I can't do it perfectly, there's no point doing it at all." The best way I've found to overcome it is to divide up the housework into daily increments. That way it's easier to maintain long-term, and it gives me a little sense of accomplishment at the end of each day. I found this website hugely helpful for tips and advice on organising my home.
One of the best habits I have managed to instill in myself is a good before-bed routine. I do all the dishes and put them away, straighten up the living room, wipe down the surfaces and pop a pot of coffee on ready for the morning. That way I can go to bed with a clear mind, and start my day with a clear mind too.
Get out of the house once a day
If you spend all day indoors, on your own, staring at a screen, you will start to gibber and foam at the mouth, the fabric of time and space will start to warp around you and you will go slowly mad. Trust me.
Work off a task list
Because you really, really need a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. I love ticking things off on a list. Sometimes I'll write something down that I have already done, just for the pleasure of ticking it off. I love my little word-count-o-meters too, and update them at the end of every working day.
Guard your time
Your time is precious, and you will be amazed how people - even people with the very best intentions - will try to fill it up with errands and chores and phone calls and impromptu visits because "your time is so flexible." Yes, your time is flexible, but you have the right to dictate exactly how flexible. I don't answer the phone when I'm working, and I have learned to suppress my people-pleasing compulsion and say "no" once in a while.
Allow plenty of time for pootling ...
... Also doodling, dawdling, playing, faffing about, pottering, daydreaming, lollygagging, puttering, idling and wandering.
If your work is creative, there's a limit to how disciplined you can be without burning out. You need to give your mind space to open up and breathe, and give it a chance to fill up with new images and experiences that you can use in your work. Otherwise you'll empty yourself out, and block. Spending time dreaming, imagining and thinking is just as important to the writing process as the more methodical tasks.
Nap
Naps are magical. I love them. If I start to feel overwhelmed, confused or stressed, a twenty-minute nap works wonders. Being able to have a little sleep during the day is one of the great perks of working from home, and you should not feel guilty for indulging in it.
Reward yourself frequently
Do something fun when you complete a task. Your inner small child is far more likely to behave if you offer it toys and treats when it has finished its homework. I like to finish my work by 4pm so that I can watch Spongebob Squarepants (I'm such an intellectual).
It's best to avoid regular food rewards, though, as that can become a very bad habit.
Break the rules sometimes
It is important for your sanity to take a day off occasionally. Go see a daytime showing of a movie, get a coffee, visit a gallery, feed the ducks. Be in the world for a while. It's nice outside.
Working from home, for me, is like babysitting a small, highly excitable child who jumps up and down saying, "I want to stay in my pyjamas all day and eat ice cream for breakfast and play with my toys and watch movies and collect bugs in a jar!" Of course, sometimes it is all right to do these things. But then we also need to get some work done, don't we? So we cajole and persuade and even trick the small child into sitting quietly at a desk for a few hours.
Here are some of the other things that have been very helpful for me - in no particular order.
Be healthy
This may sound obvious, but go to bed at a reasonable time, drink plenty of water, eat healthy food and exercise. This applies to any job, of course, but I think it is (somewhat ironically) easier to mistreat your body when you are working from home. It's all right to pull an all-nighter now and then, but if you do it too often you will burn out. Healthy eating and exercise are also essential if you are a sedentary mammal like me. It's easy to snack on unhealthy things when the fridge is only a few steps away. Know your weaknesses! Mine is chocolate, and I have absolutely no self-control if there is a block of chocolate in the cupboard (LOML will back me up on this). So I don't have any in the house. This means that, if I feel a craving, I have to walk to the supermarket to get some.
(Of course, I do this about once a week. But it could be worse).
Get up and dressed in the morning as if you have a 'regular' job
Psychologically, this makes a huge difference. It's why I started a style blog - as a way to encourage myself to keep making an effort, even if no one sees me all day.
(If I'm feeling particularly uninspired, I'll wear a 'special occasion' dress. Usually adds a bit of sparkle!)
Set mini-deadlines
This works wonders for me, as I love nothing more than pottering about on the Internet and tweeting every few minutes. I set my cellphone alarm to ring in fifteen minutes' time, and then work furiously until it rings. I'm allowed a five minute break to check emails or indulge in any of my many online distractions, and then I set the alarm again. This usually results in two hours or so of very productive work before I need a longer break.
Keep up with the housework
I have a complicated relationship with housework. I am a clean freak, and, if I allowed myself to, I would spend hours scrubbing things that should probably never be scrubbed. To get work done at home, however, I have to relax my standards a little bit to avoid going crazy.
The curse of perfectionism is a tendency to 'all or nothing' thinking: "If I can't do it perfectly, there's no point doing it at all." The best way I've found to overcome it is to divide up the housework into daily increments. That way it's easier to maintain long-term, and it gives me a little sense of accomplishment at the end of each day. I found this website hugely helpful for tips and advice on organising my home.
One of the best habits I have managed to instill in myself is a good before-bed routine. I do all the dishes and put them away, straighten up the living room, wipe down the surfaces and pop a pot of coffee on ready for the morning. That way I can go to bed with a clear mind, and start my day with a clear mind too.
Get out of the house once a day
If you spend all day indoors, on your own, staring at a screen, you will start to gibber and foam at the mouth, the fabric of time and space will start to warp around you and you will go slowly mad. Trust me.
Work off a task list
Because you really, really need a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. I love ticking things off on a list. Sometimes I'll write something down that I have already done, just for the pleasure of ticking it off. I love my little word-count-o-meters too, and update them at the end of every working day.
Guard your time
Your time is precious, and you will be amazed how people - even people with the very best intentions - will try to fill it up with errands and chores and phone calls and impromptu visits because "your time is so flexible." Yes, your time is flexible, but you have the right to dictate exactly how flexible. I don't answer the phone when I'm working, and I have learned to suppress my people-pleasing compulsion and say "no" once in a while.
Allow plenty of time for pootling ...
... Also doodling, dawdling, playing, faffing about, pottering, daydreaming, lollygagging, puttering, idling and wandering.
If your work is creative, there's a limit to how disciplined you can be without burning out. You need to give your mind space to open up and breathe, and give it a chance to fill up with new images and experiences that you can use in your work. Otherwise you'll empty yourself out, and block. Spending time dreaming, imagining and thinking is just as important to the writing process as the more methodical tasks.
Nap
Naps are magical. I love them. If I start to feel overwhelmed, confused or stressed, a twenty-minute nap works wonders. Being able to have a little sleep during the day is one of the great perks of working from home, and you should not feel guilty for indulging in it.
Reward yourself frequently
Do something fun when you complete a task. Your inner small child is far more likely to behave if you offer it toys and treats when it has finished its homework. I like to finish my work by 4pm so that I can watch Spongebob Squarepants (I'm such an intellectual).
It's best to avoid regular food rewards, though, as that can become a very bad habit.
Break the rules sometimes
It is important for your sanity to take a day off occasionally. Go see a daytime showing of a movie, get a coffee, visit a gallery, feed the ducks. Be in the world for a while. It's nice outside.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
I have returned!
It has been a completely crazy week. Thank goodness, however, that the worst of it is behind me. I was so nervous about my thesis defence, and I had a huge job to complete for a client that had to be finished by Thursday. Now I can collapse in a heap.
The viva on Wednesday went well. No thanks to me - I blathered on like an idiot and waved my arms about so much that I knocked things off my examiner's desk. I am definitely better at written communication, as blog readers who have met me in 'real' life will no doubt attest. It must have made sense overall, however, because I have been awarded the MFA with High Distinction. Hooray! BestFriendAlly has some suggestions over here as to what that might mean. (While I'm on the subject of BestFriendAlly, I'd also like to direct you to the post where she converted my cat Mink into a fearsome Transformer robot).
I went thrifting today to celebrate, but held back a little as I'm going to be spending the day with visiting blogger Scribbles on Monday, and I need to save some pennies! Also need to save for our trip, which is only three weeks away. Equal parts terrifying and exciting. I can't believe I'm going to be meeting with my publisher in London - it still seems unreal.
I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask you all, if you don't mind:
1) Are there any bloggers in the UK who would like to meet up for a coffee or the like? I'm staying in Christchurch, Dorset (and yes, that is why my family decided to move to Christchurch, NZ out of all the possible cities. Very logical reasoning there), but I'll be in London as well, and I'm sure I'll be venturing further afield.
2) LOML and I have decided to hop over to Berlin for a few days. We've never been, and we would love some recommendations of places to go and things to see.
Thank you!
The viva on Wednesday went well. No thanks to me - I blathered on like an idiot and waved my arms about so much that I knocked things off my examiner's desk. I am definitely better at written communication, as blog readers who have met me in 'real' life will no doubt attest. It must have made sense overall, however, because I have been awarded the MFA with High Distinction. Hooray! BestFriendAlly has some suggestions over here as to what that might mean. (While I'm on the subject of BestFriendAlly, I'd also like to direct you to the post where she converted my cat Mink into a fearsome Transformer robot).
I went thrifting today to celebrate, but held back a little as I'm going to be spending the day with visiting blogger Scribbles on Monday, and I need to save some pennies! Also need to save for our trip, which is only three weeks away. Equal parts terrifying and exciting. I can't believe I'm going to be meeting with my publisher in London - it still seems unreal.
I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask you all, if you don't mind:
1) Are there any bloggers in the UK who would like to meet up for a coffee or the like? I'm staying in Christchurch, Dorset (and yes, that is why my family decided to move to Christchurch, NZ out of all the possible cities. Very logical reasoning there), but I'll be in London as well, and I'm sure I'll be venturing further afield.
2) LOML and I have decided to hop over to Berlin for a few days. We've never been, and we would love some recommendations of places to go and things to see.
Thank you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
