Writer’s Workshop: Now How Do you Do That?
This week the writing prompt really called out to me. I chose prompt #4- Share your writing process. How long does it take an idea in your head to get published on your blog?
I have many ideas which just pop in my head daily. Many a times I wish to write them down in drafts and work on them but do not have the opportunity to do so.I t would be great if I could sit down and in one sitting compose the post which I want to write on from start to finish without any interruptions. Just let my thoughts flow our in words and type away happily at the keyboard.
Unfortunate the chance for this to happen is extremely rare and few unless I happen to start on my post in the middle of the night when everyone is already fast asleep. The kids will come around and distract me with their wants and needs which I have to attend to on most occasions immediately. I have to put aside what I am doing on the laptop to deal with them.Only after everything has been attended to then I am able to return to what I originally started/wanted to do here on the blog.
For this particular post that you are currently reading I started writing it out at 7.30am this morning but as the current time of 11am it has yet to be completed. I had to shelf it to prepare breakfast, get the kids ready , send them to school, do my daily car run, get the groceries and back home again. After returning home I still had to deal with other issues like preparing lunch, coaching Monkey boy ,doing the laundry and checking through my inbox while having an online discussion with members of my group I can now settled down to complete this post.
You may be wondering how then can I keep focus and do so many things simultaneously? I use 5 minute spurts to compete the tasks that I have at hand. Be it blogging or housework or coaching the kids. I craft the post that I intend to write for the day in my head and map it all out so that when I am at the computer I do not need to waste time thinking of the words to write about and getting it all together.
It gets easier after time and with much practice. It does help that I do know how to speed read and speed type so that I am able to get my blogging done more easily. Total time taken to complete this post 4hr 30 minutes. That’s an achievement for today!!
How do you get your ideas down in your blog?
Do you too get distracted along the way?
August 23, 2012 @ 1:38 pm
Most of my blog postings centered around my boys. These postings are mainly based on the pictures taken. For posting that are not about my boys, I draft them in my blog when I log in to my blog, provided that it is still in my memory. Such posting is very rare though
August 23, 2012 @ 7:50 pm
I’m looking forward to reading more post on your blog Shook.
August 24, 2012 @ 8:26 am
You are most welcome to read the postings in my blog. Do give me your feedback. Do you have the link to my blog?
August 23, 2012 @ 4:16 pm
what i usually do is plan an outing. then start planning how to deliver the post.
August 23, 2012 @ 4:26 pm
Most of my blog posts are done in minutes because of all the other things that need to get done plus work. It leads to haphazard writing with a lot of typos. I read it later and have to edit a lot. Mapping it out in your head helps a lot.
August 23, 2012 @ 10:10 pm
Luckily I usually use a lot of photos (being a photographer – duh!), but otherwise, I have a topic, an idea and write it into a draft post. And then I go back whenever I have time and maybe more ideas for it, too. Unfortunately my blog is not very structured yet, so basically I post whenever I feel like it. However, I am starting to get better at scheduling.
I also read about some speech to text software that might help (even though I speedtype, too), but I haven’t tried it yet.
Ideally I would really like to write posts a week or so in advance – I am working on it. For now, I have finished the post about our trip toNormandy France @ ImagesByCW for Alphabe- Thursday again Wednesday night only – LOL
August 24, 2012 @ 12:37 am
it would take me longer than 4 hours to finish a post, unlike you, I always end up taking several days and sometimes it won’t even get posted.
although I think most bloggers are like you with busy lives so you do have to start and then finish later or sometimes in between doing many other tasks.
have a great day.
August 24, 2012 @ 5:33 am
As a mother, like you and constantly distracted. But I do things in spurts too and we do multitask very well don’t we? 🙂
August 24, 2012 @ 5:34 am
What a great idea for a blog prompt. I usually will come up with ideas for my posts throughout the day, and record them when I think of them in my Evernote app on my iphone. I am trying to write my posts as if I’m sitting at my kitchen table talking to a friend. I’ve found if I try to make it perfect, my blog would be blank. 🙂 Thanks for such a great post!
August 24, 2012 @ 7:27 am
Fortunately for me most all of my blog writing for sometime has been inspired by the memes I’m participating in and for this I’m gratiful for. Otherwise, I’m not sure I’d be quick to come up a topic off the cuff. In the beginning it was really difficult for me to get my posts up, but now that have been at this for little over two years now my speed has drastically improved. For instance, today’s post. I knew last night what I wanted to do write about and then this morning I had it pulled together in a matter an hour. It’s not always that simple, but it worked out great for me today and that’s precisely what I needed to have happen.
August 24, 2012 @ 11:09 am
Like Kathy, I am drawn more and more by the memes that are offered so generously by bloggers. This helps me to focus on a theme and be more efficient with my time….Interruptions or no, keep writing!
August 24, 2012 @ 2:18 pm
I ask for ideas from my kids…it is a good exercise for them. I usually do not agree with most of their ideas, but still ask. Sometimes the ideas come up from just being out and about doing errands, other times, it is from my opinionated nature. But other times, ideas come from a request from content publishing customers.
August 25, 2012 @ 1:12 pm
Wow! That’s a lot of time. I try to keep my blogging to under 30 minutes…too many other things to do too
August 25, 2012 @ 2:28 pm
My writing process involves chocolate–and lots of it!
August 29, 2012 @ 4:12 am
I love your stick-to-it-ness!
I always have notebooks all over the house and in my car.
Often I write down my ideas and can’t translate them at a later time.
My husband bought me one of this little voice activated recorders thinking that might help but I can never find it!
Thanks for a nifty link to the letter ‘N’.
Thanks for taking time to share it.
A+
September 4, 2012 @ 11:01 am
It depends on the computer and the interruptions. Sometimes I deal with crashes that cause me to have to start over, or calls or kids, but if everything goes without interruption I can get done in under an hour. I like to keep a notepad open on my desktop and jot ideas in it throughout the evening. It is amazing the thoughts that can be gathered. Nature is also very inspiring.
Blessings!