{"id":3331,"date":"2010-06-06T16:14:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-06T21:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/?p=3331"},"modified":"2010-06-06T16:14:00","modified_gmt":"2010-06-06T21:14:00","slug":"the-writers-life-flying-with-focus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/2010\/06\/06\/the-writers-life-flying-with-focus\/","title":{"rendered":"The Writer&#8217;s Life: Flying With Focus"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><object classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/v\/ze0hkcKj2Ns&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><embed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/v\/ze0hkcKj2Ns&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">I dream of being a strong majestic eagle, flying through a beautiful mountain canyon, knowing exactly what I am looking for and going after it with determination and focus.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><object classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/DQMNa1VWThg&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><embed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/DQMNa1VWThg&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">But, lately I have felt like a crazy bird, unsure where to build my nest and running into windows I didn&#8217;t see.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>I decided to do something about it! <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>I began by asking myself a few easy questions (with not so easy answers)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/1afree-clip-art-birdrobin-gfairy002.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3337 alignright\" title=\"1afree--clip-art-birdrobin-gfairy002\" src=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/1afree-clip-art-birdrobin-gfairy002-217x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"217\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>How often do you think about the amount of time you spend on&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Twitter &amp; other social media, blogging, reading &amp; commenting?<\/li>\n<li>time you spend with family &amp; friends?<\/li>\n<li>working on your highest priority projects?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We see posts about these topics almost on a daily basis. <strong>Time <\/strong>is of the essence, especially in the writer&#8217;s life. My kids are home for the summer and we have a busy schedule. And, I am getting ready to go back to work part-time (but it will probably become full-time very quickly). I can feel the walls of available time to write closing in on me. So, I have spent the last couple weeks examining how to squeeze in more productive writing time.<\/p>\n<p>I have a long list of projects from non-fiction, memoir, short fiction, novel, poetry, blogs, educational\/self-help and some that defy description. I  wish I could write from my <strong>passion <\/strong>each day, but my passion is often a flame that comes up with many new ideas before finishing important ones. This can sometimes leaves me feeling scattered, jumping from project to project.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I started with my writing priorities and asked myself&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em><strong>If I knew I only had a year to live (or write), and wanted to leave my mark in the world through my writing, what writing projects would I work on first?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/1afree-clip-art-canary-gfairy002.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3338\" title=\"1afree--clip-art-canary-gfairy002\" src=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/1afree-clip-art-canary-gfairy002-207x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"207\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Amazingly, my priorities did change based on my question. I categorized my writing projects into these groups (well, close enough &#8211; I can&#8217;t find my notes &#8211; that is an issue for another post). Those that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I hold close to my heart and leave a legacy to my children.<\/li>\n<li>may help others on their path in life.<\/li>\n<li>help me break out of my habits and allow me to go wild with experimentation.<\/li>\n<li>call for fascinating research &#8211; online, books and talking to people &#8211; also intellectually challenging to pull together and creatively challenging to merge it all into new worlds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ideally, every project I choose will meet all these criteria, and I hope that will be the case for long-term projects. But this exercise did help me put a few things into perspective.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Time with my family does come first, but I realized that writing projects with and for them were not prioritized high enough. That is going to change.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Long-term research projects for a novel were overwhelming to me, but I realized this book was a high\u00a0priority. That will change, too.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>I will never stop writing to help others on their path and experimenting with ways to break out of old habits and self-imposed restrictions. But, I will try to put more of these passions into all of my writing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/1adovefabgfairy003d.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3339\" title=\"1adovefabgfairy003d\" src=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/1adovefabgfairy003d-300x207.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"207\" \/><\/a>My biggest change will be only participating in <strong>FridayFlash<\/strong> on the occasion when I have something ready (I do have some Flash to complete) or posting an excerpt from a larger work. I love the FridayFlash community and will continue reading the Flash of my friends as much as possible. \u00a0<em><strong>In my perfect world, I would be able to work on all my projects simultaneously and still do FridayFlash every week.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>My evil nemesis, <strong>Google Reader<\/strong> is another one of my greatest challenges. I desperately want to read more blogs and am determined to organize my Reader so I can make this process easier and more productive.<\/p>\n<p>As for <strong>Twitter<\/strong>, I will always be there. I am very grateful for all the good friends I have met, I like the links &amp; news and it is just plain fun. \u00a0The time management will need to tighten up as new demands in my life increase.<\/p>\n<p>My <strong>blogging<\/strong> will be increasing, but in a way that I hope will provide something to help others with their lives and connect me to everyone more efficiently when my Twitter time is decreasing.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><object classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" codebase=\"http:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/v\/cJOZp2ZftCw&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><embed type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" height=\"344\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/v\/cJOZp2ZftCw&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;color1=0x5d1719&amp;color2=0xcd311b\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Now, with all my priorities in order, I can dance &amp; groove like <em><strong>Snowball<\/strong><\/em>, the amazing dancing cockatoo. Now that is more my speed!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">BTW &#8211; I heard on CBS Sunday Morning today that this bird is the only known creature of any kind that can respond spontaneously to music other than humans &#8211; WOW!<\/p>\n<h3>Others Blogging About Related Topics<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lateralaction.com\/articles\/create-more-do-less\/\">How to Create More by Doing Less<\/a> at <em>Lateral Action<\/em>. This is the post that stimulated ideas about my hierarchy\u00a0of needs in my writing life (the categories above).<\/p>\n<p>After I wrote this post, I found a others blogging about related topics this week:<\/p>\n<p>Elizabeth Craig at <em>Mystery Writing is Murder<\/em> wrote <a href=\"http:\/\/mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com\/2010\/06\/comments.html\">Comments<\/a>, about the time we spend on comments.<\/p>\n<p>Betsy Canas Garmon at <em>Wild Thyme Creative<\/em> wrote, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wildthymecreative.com\/?p=656\">Confessions of a Right Brained Calendar Junkie<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lydiasharp.blogspot.com\/2010\/05\/52-qualities-of-prosperous-writer_30.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">52 Qualities of the Prosperous Writer: Number Twenty, Clarity<\/a>, was written by Joe and Lydia Sharp at <em>The Sharp Angle<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3>One More Thing for Fun<\/h3>\n<p>Speaking of birds, in our yard, we have been watching a mother robin on her nest and her baby birds for the last few weeks. Her name is Zelda, and the babies are Fred, Wilma, Barnie and Betty.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3345\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3345\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/DSC00466.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3345 \" title=\"DSC00466\" src=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/DSC00466-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3345\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Look closely and you will see - Fred, Wilma, Barnie and Betty <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3346\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3346\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/DSC00468.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3346\" title=\"DSC00468\" src=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/DSC00468-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3346\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zelda madly chirping at me to get away from her nest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3><a href=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/1owl.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3341\" title=\"1owl\" src=\"http:\/\/annetylerlord.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/1owl-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Let&#8217;s Talk About It<\/h3>\n<p>What are your writing priorities and how do you decide what deserves more time?<\/p>\n<p>What are the best tips you can offer for time management, preserving your writing time, productive writing time and getting it all done!<\/p>\n<p>Have you been shifting priorities lately to allow for more time with family and friends? Less time on Twitter? More time on Twitter? More writing time?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I dream of being a strong majestic eagle, flying through a beautiful mountain canyon, knowing exactly what I am looking for and going after it with determination and focus. But, lately I have felt like a crazy bird, unsure where to build my nest and running into windows I didn&#8217;t see. I decided to do [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,50],"tags":[82,124,136,139,152,171],"class_list":["post-3331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-non-fiction","category-the-writers-life","tag-change","tag-mindfulness","tag-organizing","tag-passion","tag-setting-priorities","tag-writers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livingwithlivewires.com\/annetylerlord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}