Schedules, Routines and Outlines

These are all of the things that I have been working on establishing in my life, especially since I am home now, I have no reason not to have a routine. I have always been so good at making routines, not so good at sticking to them. I always start out with really good intentions, and then somewhere along the line I give up.



When I was working, and getting ready for the wedding, I was SO good at my routine. After the craziness settled down, I was back to square one, being lazy.

I decided that I absolutely do NOT want to waste this time that I have before H comes. I want to get as much done with the time that I have to myself as possible, because after that its not going to be about me anymore, it'll be all about H.

I've started doing the FlyLady routine in my home. Its really helped to not have to spend so much time cleaning my house everyday. Things are finally coming together, getting organized and way simpler. I highly suggest her. I even found an app for my iPhone called Home Routines that keeps track of everything that I need to get done for the day. My days feel longer, and yet I also feel that I am accomplishing way more then I ever did before by spending less time working on it!

Because of the way my brain works, I always felt guilty working on my writing if the house was a mess. I think I've talked about this before, but bare with me once more. Z and I both worked, but still, I felt it was terrible to do anything else unless the house was immaculate. Z has always been so good about helping out around the house, our house has never been disgusting by any means, but you always have the projects that need to be done but get pushed to the side. I felt that those needed to get done and have a higher priority then my writing.

With the way my new schedule works I am able to get all of my cleaning done in the morning, spend my entire afternoon working on my writing, and then, depending on how much writing I've gotten done, I am able to read at night, and spend time with my love. I understand that once H gets here, things will be VERY different, but I cant help but think that if I can fit my routine around hers that somehow I will be able to keep up with things around here, and still have time to write. Ideally, anyway. We'll see how things go once she gets here.

I have been working on a Phase Outline. There are a lot of good articles on it. Just google it and you will find a whole list. The one I really enjoyed was this. I really think that by doing this outline, I will be able to spend more time dedicated to working on my story, and less time worrying about what should happen next. The idea is that you do all of the work by prewriting. You get your plot completely nailed down before ever even writing one word toward your novel. I have read a LOT of books on plotting and outlining, but this way seems to make the most sense to me. My goal is to have the outline completed by January 31st, and to start writing on February 1st. I hope to have this story told by the time the baby comes, but we shall see how that all plays out.

I've read this book before, but this, along with a few articles, and some research on how other authors outline, has really beed my road map. This book has some really practical tips to get you going. It asks you to really look deep, ask yourself some questions and figure out exactly what it is that you have to say. It helps you figure out exactly what you want your story to be about. I have it on my kindle, but I also decided to buy a paperback copy so that I can refer back to things easier! So worth it!

This is the other book I have read this week that has been really helpful. I'm not the best at emotions. I get awkward and fumble for the right thing to say. This book is SO helpful. Especially for people like me who pretend that they have no emotions whatsoever, also for people, also like me, who tend to use the same phrases over and over again. The same words to say many different things. They give examples of different phrases to try and explain why emotion is so important when you are trying to tell a story.

I highly recommend both books!


Well, I think this post is long enough now, I'm off to shower, and get some writing done. Have a great day, and happy writing!