IWSG meets the first Wednesday of every month. A community of brilliant writers led by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Visit the Insecure Writer’s Support Group website and database! You’ll find everything from writing to marketing, along with encouragement and support!
I think every writer, on any given day, wishes they had a clone. I’m entertaining the idea of renovating our master closet into a lab, where I’m free to practice my illegal cloning skills–take that, government drones! There’s rarely enough time to *fill in the blank* and write. With multiple exciting projects vying for attention, I’m struggling with striking a balance between the creative process and my domestic duties.
Laundry is piled high enough to conceal family members. No one’s allowed to run through the kitchen, for fear of toppling the tower of dirty dishes. Our border collie is constantly kicking up dust bunnies the size of small children–the ones normally concealed under the deepest recesses of the furniture. And, I’m pretty sure there’s a few trick-or-treaters lost in the high grass that is our front yard. I’m clearly NOT as passionate about housecleaning as I am about writerly things.
Need I mention the succubus that is social media. I’ve just recently succumbed to Twitter. There’s an amusing story behind my Twitter initiation, one involving mistaken identity and a possible clone in CA, but that’s a tale best told over wine. I understand its usefulness, but there’s a learning curve in the land of tweets, not unlike a visit to a village filled with severe ADD sufferers speaking Pig Latin.
Guess which bird I am.
So, should any lovely writerly folks have a few golden nuggets of time-management knowledge and/ or helpful tweety-bird advice, feel free to deposit them here:)
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In the meantime, stay tuned for REALMS FAIRE, kicking off November 11th through the 15th! Led by the brilliant, Mary Pax! There will be 9 fun events with chances to WIN awesome prizes, everyday! I’ll be hosting a music-inspired event with bff and critique partner, Amy Willoughby-Burle and audiomachine, for their newest public release, EXISTENCE! I wrote the commercial blurb for this amazing album by composer Kevin Rix, and we’re ridiculously excited to share it next week! There will be multiple contests/ writing challenges on FB, Twitter and our blogs, with several signed EXISTENCE albums up for grabs:)
A taste of things to come…
WriterlySam 
Strap a duster to your collie – that will get rid of the dust bunnies.
The best I can offer is one word – balance. And everyone’s balancing point is different.
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Oh my house suffers the same. As to twitter, use lists to track what you want to track. I usually only check @ connect feed and lists. Retweeting is the easiest way to create connections and the least time consuming.
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I have the same problem with my quilting obsession. Plus I have “fabric poopie” all over my house (the threads that stick to everything when you are sewing). Just don’t let your kids write their names and the date in the dust. It’s sure to get noticed. As for dustbunnies-name them!
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Hi Sam, I think we all struggle with time management. I work full time so I have to fit writing in around that. I’ve recently given up an hour of tv in the evening to give me more time to work. Is that something you could use?
Someone also suggested I get a cleaner because I have the same issues with housework as you. Good luck!
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I haven’t been on Twitter or Triberr since the end of August…REALLY trying to get back into the swing of things. So much to do, so little time to do it – and I’m RETIRED!
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Oh God, I wish I had advice, but I’m in the same boat. I am absolutely swamped this month and cursing the fact that I signed up for so many things that are taking place at the same time. Housework? Who has time for housework? I still haven’t unpacked from the writer’s conference that ended on October 27th.
All I can say is, make sure the writing keeps coming first. The other stuff can wait until you can hire someone else to do it. 🙂 Hang in there!
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If you figure out how to clone yourself, please share the secret. I could use another 2-3 of me. One for cleaning (I hate it too), one can get a real job that earns $$, one can run errands and that would free me up for writing and quality family time. 🙂
Nice to meet you!
Oh, and my IWSG post is on my blogger page, not my wordcount page–charitywrites.blogspot.com
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Alex is always thinking. haha. Two of me would be good, but I want the clone to have specific skills. She can do laundry, driving, working, paying bills and leave me to write, travel and shop.
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I’m taking a pointer from one of my visitors and commenting over a few days. You’re post makes perfect sense to me, and I don’t have a clone either.
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I’ve removed the clocks from my house. That solved my time management issues.
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I got a cleaning girl. $11 an hour. 15 years old. Requires a bit of training and supervision, but I leave her a list and go write. She comes and asks questions. I explain. Best money I spend all week. The boys mow the lawn and do the dishes (they are quite a bit older than your brood though) and everyone does their own laundry. Probably not helpful to you at this juncture in your life, so I fully support your cloning idea. Ask Alex for help. He’s mastered the process…
Tina @ Life is Good
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Happy to try out some experiments in your lab, and failing a clone, winning the lottery will do to pay for a housekeeper!
Suzanne @ Suzannes Tribe
xx
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Lots of great advice here Sam… from cloning experiments, to removing clocks from the house, to a paid cleaning service…
Let’s raise our glasses to this crazy and glorious writerly existence… *virtual toast*
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