The time suck conundrum

Note:  This month's guest blogger is Michelle Gagnon.  Michelle is a former modern dancer, bartender, dog walker, model, personal trainer, and Russian supper club performer. Her debut thriller The Tunnels was an IMBA bestseller. Her next book, Boneyard, depicts a cat and mouse game between dueling serial killers. In her spare time she reads and…wait, who’s she kidding? She no longer has spare time.  Michelle, take it away!

 

Last weekend I attended a lecture by legendary crime author Gillian Roberts.  She discussed all the obstacles we face as writers, from the little voice in the back of our heads saying, “You can’t do this…you won’t succeed,” to the need to demand time and respect for your work, both from yourself and from your loved ones.

But what really resonated with me was when she mentioned the pitfalls of the internet. Don’t get me wrong, I love the internet— I can’t even imagine getting the vast majority of my book research done without it. And all of these various social networking groups are a godsend to writers at a time when much of the marketing responsibility is in our hands. 

That being said, it is stunning how much time I lose every day. Even as I write this, I’m clicking back and forth to check my email, a compulsion that I can’t seem to resist. If something occurs to me, however random it might be, I head on over to google. Is this movie playing in my area, and at what time? Or hey, I haven’t thought about that person in years, wonder if I can find any information on them online (or better yet, a photo). And while I’m at it, maybe a new review has posted for one of my books, I better take a minute and check…of course, since I’m already here, what’s my Amazon.com ranking these days? (I’m especially not proud of this last one, but there it is, the ugly truth).

Trolling the internet and checking email has fast become the equivalent of moseying on down to the fridge to see if anything new has materialized in the past hour (not that I’ve stopped doing that, either).  Every day I receive digests from over 30 yahoo groups, not to mention Dorothy L, Shelfari, Good Reads, Myspace, Facebook…the list truly does go on and on. Time slips away as I sift through these (saying to myself, “But I MUST know what’s going on in the mystery community! Cannot fall behind!) And there are always so many interesting threads that I feel obliged to chime in on, so many books to review, so many emails and comments and blogs to check…I look up, and it’s time to sign off for the day and start getting dinner ready.

So where do you draw the line? How do you stay on top of the industry, market yourself and your books, while still getting some writing done and maintaining your sanity?

Seriously, I’m asking. Any and all advice would be appreciated.

PS: I’m holding a series of contests via my website for prizes such as an Amazon Kindle, iPod shuffle, and gift certificates (no time-expansion machines, though. Sorry). Go to www.michellegagnon.com for more details.

Comments

[Dana Cameron]

Michelle, I totally get this. I try to say, "okay, you have thirty minutes to catch up on news. GO!" After that, I do my best to stick to the actual job of writing. It doesn't always work....

[Michelle Gagnon]

I know, it's so frustrating! I try to keep it to an hour or two, but I'm seriously considering cutting off my wireless for a few hours of the day to save me from myself.

[Lukas Ortiz]

Well, Ms. Gagnon, you need to set parameters. By setting needed cut-off times, you'll be able to focus on the craft you excel in....your writing! I think we all struggle with this, though. I'm supposed to be reading a new manuscript...ugh :-)

[Michelle Gagnon]

Uh oh...note to self, do not send links to blog posts detailing how and why you are NOT writing to your agent. Hi Lukas!

[Kathy]

My aunt was pubbed through Publish America. She has to sell her own books. She is 76 in a catch 22 situation, the cost of trying to traipse around pushing her books outweighs the little bit she would make off the sale of the book. He two books are romance novels and they are not too bad for a 70 year old woman just learning to write and stuff.

[Jennifer]

What you have here is not a time-wasting habit, it's information addiction. It's shared, believe me! The best way I've found to control is with large amounts of self-discipline: Just stop. Don't go online while working. Don't check email until after you've done your quota of work for the day. Don't click on links unless they are vital to your work. Don't respond to groups unless you are between books or the fate of the world depends on it. You'll feel deprived, but you'll be free.

[Zhadi]

Michelle, that's a question I've been wrestling with for the last year. Blogbooktours alone, with all the info/links/etc can take up several hours of a day. I still haven't figured it out. But hey, you have two books out and your time management has to be decent to produce such a kick-ass virtual tour!

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

Yup. It's a problem. And on writing days (as opposed to real-job days) I always think it's better if I use my writing energy to work on the book than to answer emails.

SO. On writing days, I give myself 30 minutes in the morning to check emails and groups and blogs. I can do it really fast.

Then I leave the desk, and do something else for 30 minutes. Read the papers. Look at the garden. Walk to Dunkin Donuts and get 2 large lattes.

Once I start writing, I can only look at my email for five minutes each hour. And I can only check it at exactly an hour from the time I sat down. So if I start at 10:15, I can't look at 11:15. (Okay, weird. But it works.)

And--here's the big big secret. Jennifer, do you do this? I turn off the little ping thing that announces there's mail. Shockingly, sometimes I'm so immersed I forget to look. And it rarely matters.

[Charlaine Harris]

Oh, yes, Michelle, I agree that the internet can be a super time-waster. Here I am, responding to your blog, when in fact it's my work time and I have a deadline . . . case in point.

Charlaine

[Doc Kane]

Hi Michelle,

Ah, the dilemma. . .I think you need a healthy dose of Tim Ferris' concepts about time, email and the other things that take us away from what we need to do. Place his name in Google and read along. . .

Cheers, Doc