Confession: I have not written nearly as much lately as I should.
I have a four-year fold out calendar in my Filofax meant to track and chart my daily writing output. This should have been a blog post with a photo of how I’ve set that up, but let’s face it: my output lately has been abysmal, and I don’t want you to see it.
I’ve been busy, sure. It feels like I’ve been running from one thing to the next for weeks. Part of it was working the Dreaded Morning Shift, wherein I start work at six and become human around noon. Part of it was crafty little things that (enjoyably) ate up my time. I have new ideas for new stories churning out of my head all the time but…I haven’t actually gotten anywhere with them.
I think I’m stuck, a little, on where I’m taking this series of stories. I knew where I wanted to go when I started, but the author of those plans feels like a different person. I tell myself it will take a lot more time to write a novel-length work. Of course it will. But I’ve been missing that high of publishing a new short every couple of weeks. Instead I’ve passed the honeymoon phase of this bigger project without readying myself for the long-term.
It sucks. It’s a bitch to have so many things pulling at the hem of my skirt and (what seems like) no time to get them all done. If I want to give my BIG PLAN a chance to succeed, I really need to work out a firm schedule for writing. Not just when I feel I’ve got time, because clearly nothing gets done that way.
I’ll be pulling out my well thumbed (but never finished) copy of Getting Things Done tonight. And I’m thinking about using a 24-hour timetable in my planner. Something’s gotta give if this thing is going to go anywhere.
Writers: when do you write?
sniderwriter 
Quick answer: when I can! Generally after my little girl has gone to bed (and I’ve eaten), so between 8 and 10ish at night. Often I only crank out 1 hour. Also early mornings.
Thanks for your comment!
I think my biggest obstacle is that Day Job has varying shifts, so it’s hard to decide on a firm time to write. I think it would be easier if I had a set schedule, but that’s not an option right now.
I keep hoping some scheduling solution will appear out of nowhere and I’ll suddenly reach writing nirvana, but no luck yet :p
I hope you manage to sort out your scheduling problem!
I write when I can. If it’s a slow work day for me, I can write between reports. Since I work from home and use the same computer for both work and writing, it’s pretty easy. Otherwise, ususally at night when the kiddos are asleep.
The fact that you work from home makes me wildly jealous. Lucky!