AUTHOR'S CORNER:

WORKING 9 TO 5

It's not always easy finding motivation when you're the only one who knows about your writing!  Unlike working for a company, or in public sector, there is no one there to see what it is that you actually do.  There is no 'set' office time in which to clock in and out of and let's face it, t.v. is ever looming and rubbish day time viewing is oooh sooo tempting!  More so, if you happen to be writing from home, which by the way most, if not all writers do, then you will no doubt find a million other things in the house that may need your attention!  from washing up to dusting those pesky cobwebs down off the corners of your ceiling, to cutting the grass and finally getting round to ironing that pile of laundry that has been sitting in the spare room for the last few weeks!  

Not to mention the endless phone calls from stupid PPI claim companies, insisting that their records show that you could be owed thousands of pounds!  And lets not forget MOTHER, who absolutely loves to chat to you for a good hour about YOUR dad, each and every single morning so that by the time she is done your brain resembles a spaghetti dish!  And during the holidays, when the kids grace you with their charm and delectable selves insisting, no, demanding that you pay them attention and feed them every thirty minutes! And then The Devil himself will come to you in the guise of  'coffee mornings' and convinces you that it is a must on the social front. 

With all those obstacles it's a miracle you've actually even started writing!  You Are A Hero!

So how do you push on and get going and actually produce something which resembles a novel?  Unless you have a day job, (in which case you are either superhuman or completely delusional in thinking that you can work and write all at the same time) listen carefully....

1.  In order to succeed you must want to succeed.

2.  If you want to succeed you must be serious about what you do.

3.  Anything one is serious about becomes a job....i.e. I am serious about motherhood, therefore motherhood is my job!  Make writing your job!

4.  Any job must be structured otherwise it will always be no more than a hobby or something you occasionally dabble in.

5.  Find a suitable, regular place for your work, don't just work on the kitchen table or in the living room with your laptop on your knee, your mind will never be in work mode.  Make space, (even if it is only a corner desk in a room) and make that the place of  work and nowhere else, that way your mind will always be in work mode when you are there.

6.  Take yourself seriously and respect your decision, if you have decided to write at a certain time, then unless it is an emergency, don't let anything disturb or take you away from that.

7.  Designate a time, just as any place of work would, for your job.  There is no company that allows employees to work when they feel, no work would get done!  There is no office which has no starting hours and finishing hours, if there were it would be disaster for the workplace!  Everything that succeeds has structure around it!  structure your work time...because remember once you have decided that this is what you want to do, it is WORK.

8.  I always 'GET' to work at 9.30 every morning (with the exception of the very occasional coffee morning) and I work all the way to about 2pm before taking a break and also doing the washing, or starting on dinner.  I return back to work at about 3pm and work through till 6pm, of course being a mum I do stop for ten minutes here and there when my kids come home from school to give them the odd kiss and ask about their day!  After 6pm I turn off the computer, close the office door and go and join my family and spend the evening with them!  

9.  Finally, unless working on deadline, always leave weekends for your family....because you don't work on weekends, you work 9 to 5!

10. Oh and don't forget to give yourself holidays!