Thursday, June 11, 2009

Long Time No Post - The problem with a day job

Ok... So it's been well over a month since I've had the opportunity to do any kind of writing other than the Technical Documentation I am called upon to vomit forth on a daily basis at my Day job. Don't get me wrong... I love my job, and enjoy going to work most days, but much like most of you, I'd rather be writing the next great Oscar award winning screenplay!

Sooooo... this brings me back to the problems of having to work a day job in order to support the hobby...

Believe it or not, I was at a Primerica meeting and I found some fantastic advice. The theme of that meeting was time management. It was focused on finding the time to grow your Primerica Business but the logic was sound no matter how you look at it... So let's go ahead and apply it to writing.

The gentleman in the video put it this way... So you work 8hrs a day at your job. Lets give you an hour and a half to commute (more than plenty for me to get abck and forth). so that's 9 1/2 hrs. lets give you 8hrs of sleep (about 2 hrs more than I get usually) so that's 17 1/2 hours. Lets take another 2 1/2 hours of quality time with your family... Solid - just you and me time. Not half ass you're in the same room watching TV... That's about 2 hrs more than I usually get... that's 20hrs... Lets say you get another hour for working out or doing your own thing... so 21hrs... that leaves you 3 hrs a day... 3 hrs a day X 5 days is 15hrs a week. That's a part time job... That's 15hrs of writing time... I average about 5-10 pages an hour... so that's 75 - 150 pages a week... And let's just look at that... They might not be top quality pages, they might be absolute crap... but you need shit to fertilize the prettiest gardens right!? Sooooo... What my excuse? I don't have one, really... If I worked out, slept, and spent as much time with my girlfriend and friends as I outlined above, and still had weekends free... WOW! What a life I would have... And if on top of all of that I had 3 hours a day to focus on my writing... Man... You'd be hearing "I'd like to thank the academy" out of my lips before you know it... So where's the script? Where's the porduct... No idea...

What's your excuse? Writers' Block... nope... Oscar Award Winner Bob Moresco has a good video on why writers' block doesn't exist... and how to take care of it - click here "it's all bologna".

I guess what it boils down to is how serious are we? How much time and effort are we willing to put into our writing...

I need to work full time to support myself... Ok... I just showed you how to work full time and commute 1 1/2 hours a day back and forth every day and still have time to write.

I need to spend time with my family... Ok... I just showed you how to spend 12 1/2 high quality hours with your family during the week. Without even dipping into the weekend!

I have to workout and keep fit... Ok... We've addressed that too and given you an hour a day for that...

Everyone needs to sleep... 8 hrs a night... Check!

So even after having a more fullfilling, exciting, and restfull life than most of us normally have... There's still time to write... How serious are you? Sit down and write about it.

- G

No comments:

Post a Comment