Kim Neville

It’s mid-February and I’m happy to report I’m midway through the first draft of As-Yet Unnamed Changeling Novel. The year so far has been productive. I’ve been focused. I’ve maintained my presence.

The down side of all this hard work is a sense of imbalance. It’s hard to keep up the writing pace, go to work, take care of my home and family and still remember to give myself a chance to recharge. The first thing to go when I get busy is always my social life. Sometimes it has to happen. There are only so many hours to go around.

But friendships are important, even to those of us with solitary tendencies. After a couple of months of burrowing in my little writer hole I invariably begin feeling lonely and cranky. Which is where I found myself at the end of January.

So this month I’ve been making an effort to reconnect with people who bring joy into my life. It’s amazing how a couple of dinners with good friends can fill my little mouse soul with harmony and fullness.

This might put me a week or two off my ambitious writing schedule. Or maybe not. Maybe a happy mouse is a better burrower.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the creative process and how to make my writing time more productive. After a year of many changes, I finally feel I’ve settled into a comfortable rhythm. I’m able to balance my new job, family responsibilities and writing in proportions that feel right to me. But still I struggle with this nagging sense that I’m not writing as much as I’d like.

Carving out more time didn’t really work. I cut television and movies — yes, almost entirely — from my life over two years ago. I see my friends just often enough to ensure they remain friends. (I hope.) Date nights are a rare treat. Cutting out exercise was a bad idea; ditto for sleep and housework. So. I’m left wondering this: if I can’t work longer, how can I work better?

Last week I read an article on The 99 Percent called Getting Creative Things Done: How to Fit Hard Thinking into a Busy Schedule. The rules are simple but powerful:

1) Set aside time each week for creative work. I already do that.

2) Block out that time on your calendar and treat them as unbreakable appointments. Okay. Sometimes writing gets pushed aside for errands. Or sunshine.

3) Set rules for that time. For example, no email. Hm. Yes, I probably should stop checking my email when I’m supposed to be writing. And Facebook. And my Google Reader. Maybe I shouldn’t run downstairs to throw the laundry in the dryer, either. Or walk to the store for a jug of milk. These things tend to happen when I get to a stuck spot, and I’ve been in a lot of stuck spots lately.

4) Focus on process, not goals. Oh, how I love this. For the last year I’ve been setting myself goals that I miss most of the time. It’s really hard to estimate how many hours it will take to revise a scene. Sometimes it’s one. Sometimes it’s twelve. But that doesn’t stop me from making an optimistic guess, and feeling demoralized again and again when I disappoint myself. Or worse, rushing to finish a scene, doing a crap job and having to rewrite it all later.

So, thank you, Cal Newport. I’m taking these steps starting today.

It’s been a month since Shane and I both started working from home and splitting the child care duties. So far it’s been fantastic for both of us. It took a couple weeks to work out the kinks. Shane had to get used to a shorter work day and to working through the distractions of home life. Because sometimes there’s no stopping your two year-old from running into Daddy’s office to get a high-five for going pee on the potty.

As for me, I had to adjust to having a lot more writing time and a lot more freedom. No, I’m not complaining. It’s just that with so much extra time it’s easy to get distracted by fun stuff on the Internet, or shopping trips, or sunny days that beg for beach walks. I had to re-discipline myself.

Things are very, very good for us right now. One of us works in the morning while the other takes care of Cass. We meet for lunch and then switch until dinner. Every day, we both get to create stuff that excites us. And every day, we both get to spend quality one-on-one time with our amazing little girl. On Sundays, nobody works and we spend time as a family. It’s a perfect balance.

Now, if we can just make some money so we can afford to continue living this beautiful life…