Your Favourite Writing Tools

Sometimes you have to blow your own trumpet, otherwise who else will do it. I've been a member of Helium for a while (in fact, I plan to review the highs and lows one day) and I have a few articles on there. Not as many as some of my friends, but a respectable number. I've recently added two more to the list, and since they are about writing, I thought I would share them with you.

The first is about why writers need other writers. I think this is one that I may expand into a longer article one day.

The second is about setting up a writer's office. It made me think about the things I have in my office that I can't do without. Apart from my laptop and a reliable internet connection, I still find a pen and paper the most useful writing tools I own. Sometimes I need to write something down without having to open a new document or leave the one I am working on. What's your most useful writing tool.

Happy WAHM Day

I've just realised something. Nearly every writer I know at the moment is a mom. Some have new babies, some have older children, some even have grandchildren. There are lots of us juggling writing careers and motherhood. Some of us are freelancing full time, while others are combining writing with full time jobs outside the homes. I figure we deserve at least one day. So this post is for all of you (all of us): Happy Mother's Day.

Freelance Writing: 2007 Career Goals

Whether you're freelance writing or in any other career, it's important to have goals. They keep you focused and, in the tough times, remind you why you're churning out articles at 1 cent a word. I have a lot of goals for my career - and not all of them involve writing. In talking to a friend recently (more on that another time), I realised one important thing: I was working hard so I didn't have to work so hard."

Setting Career Goals

What I mean by that is that my short term career goal is to make enough money to pay my bills. That's also my medium term goal, with the addition of enough money for holidays and other small extravagances. I also want to improve the pay rate, so I get more money for less writing (who wouldn't?) But the reason I am doing this - and the reason I work at home - is to be able to spend more time with my family and to have a better quality of life. Those are things that I think most people want. (And don't think life is perfect, because there are some family members I can DEFINITELY do without!)

So this was what I had in mind when setting my goals for 2007. My perfect day would involve about four hours of writing for others, about two hours of teaching and about one hour of dealing with the other writers I work with. I would do this Monday to Friday and on weekends I would spend a couple hours a day working on my own stuff. I would be able to spend every evening playing with my daughter, and I wouldn't get stressed.

Living The Perfect Writing Day

Someone suggested that I try living (and writing) that way now instead of thinking about all the things that get in the way. So I tried it yesterday - and guess what? Yesterday I did as much writing in four and a half hours as I had done the previous day. I spent two hours on a new course, spent an hour on some admin - and took the rest of the day off to spend with my daughter. And I didn't get stressed even once. I'm going to try this for a couple of weeks and see if it works. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, I'm curious - how do you plan to change your writing life this year?

Blogging For Smarties

Blogging For Smarties is not the opposite of Blogging For Dummies, a book which tells us how to do what we already do here at WritingUp.If you want advice on smart blogging, try Performancing.com, Problogger.com or read Seven Essential Blogging Habits. This is about a conversation with my three year old which made me think about the life of a WAHM.

Like many people, I used to go out to work. For my daughter, work was something that you did when you were out and when you were home you were off duty. But last year, when I went freelance, that started to change.

Of course, the change didn't happen overnight. Freelance writing success rarely comes quickly. But with all the writing I've been doing in the last couple of months, something major has changed. I'm never off-duty, though I force myself to spend family time (that IS why I'm a WAHM, after all). All you writers will know, though, that when a deadline looms, everything gets shoved aside so you can deliver on time. And that somtimes means children, too.

Like most three year olds, my daughter is the centre of her universe, and she doesn't like my work stealing the limelight. She knows I'm a writer (thanks to five unpublished children's stories which I've tested on her and her friends with great success) but she doesn't always understand that it means I have to sit at the computer. But she IS beginning to understand about money, so I came up with a way to explain my blogging and writing habit to her. The conversation went like this:

Me: You know that Mummy's a writer, don't you?
T: Yes (smiling)
M: Writing has to be done at the computer, because that's where people write. Do you understand?
T: Yes
M: Do you remember Daddy explained to you about earning money to buy treats?
T: Yes (warily)
M: Well, that's why Mummy has to write. So she can earn money to buy food and treats like Smarties (Smarties are small chocolate sweets wtih a bright coating, like M&Ms but smaller). They are her favourite treat at the moment.

So that's where the notion of writing for Smarties came in. And since I also earn money from blogging, I must be blogging for Smarties too.

Funnily enough, I think my daughter understood what I was getting at. And it gives me a handy way to explain why I'm sitting at the computer sometimes when I would rather be playing with her.

What about all you other WAHMs? How do you explain your work to young children - or older children? I might need to come up with something new in a couple of years.

PS. If you haven't already read it, check out Mitch's post on backing up - it's great advice for any writer. I wish I'd read this before my laptop died.

Working and Mothering

Like many of the people here, I'm a work at home mum. In lieu of any inspiration for another freelance writing tip, I thought I'd share with you what my week is usually like. In essence, it breaks down into two parts. Monday to Wednesday, my daughter is at nursery (because those were my work days when I went back to work). The rest of the week, she's at home and we do kiddy activities. Here's our schedule.

Monday to Wednesday
6.30-7.00am - daughter wakes up and either (a) makes clanking noises in her room as she rummages for toys or (b) comes bursting into our room to tell us something important. Either way, I'm awake and haven't had enough sleep
7.00-8.00am - My daughter and I talk, play and get dressed, then her dad takes her to nursery
8.00-1.00 - check email (since I'm in a different time zone, there's always something in my inbox from North America; check WritingUp for recent posts and comments; write a blog post (or two); work on my house move ebook; check ezinearticles to see if anyone's picked up my articles; check google adsense; check my web stats; check my Ryze page for messages;
1.00-1.15pm - lunch
1.15 -5.15pm - more writing, noting down ideas; website management (what content am I going to add or what am I going to change this week so the search engines keep indexing my pages); if I can I draft a couple of blog posts I can use later in the week (you'll see why soon)
5.30 -7.15pm pick up daughter from nursery, followed by playtime, dinnertime and bedtime
7.15-8.00pm if my husband's on the bedtime shift, time for another quick email and writingup check; if not, it's the shower, story, bed routine.
8.00-10.30pm - grownup time: reading, talking, television

Thursday to Sunday
6.30-7.00am - daughter wakes up and either (a) makes clanking noises in her room as she rummages for toys or (b) comes bursting into our room to tell us something important. Either way, I'm awake and haven't had enough sleep
7.00-8.30am - My daughter and I talk, and play
8.30-9.30am - her dad gives her breakfast and plays for a while (he works from home too) while I do a lightning-quick email and blog check and post
9.30-1.30 - playgroups of various sorts (Thursday and Friday only); followed by lunch and a nap (for my daughter if I can persuade her.
1.30-2.30pm - catch up on email, writing or web management
2.30-7.15pm - playing, reading, singing, television, outing to the park, supermarket or wherever.
7.15-8.00pm if my husband's on the bedtime shift, time for another quick email and writingup check; if not, it's the shower, story, bed routine.
8.00-10.30pm - grownup time: reading, talking, television

So, how does it work? Well, I've never missed a writing deadline, though I'm always playing catchup on the domestic front. I spend a lot of time with my daughter, which I really enjoy. I never begrudge a second of it, because I'll never have that time again. I feel a bit guilty sometimes when I'm working and it's obvious that she's desperate for my attention, but by and large, I think the balance is right, though I am ALWAYS tired. However, there'll be time enough for me to focus even more on writing when she goes to school. So, that's my story. If you're a WAHM/SAHM like me, what's your week like?