Things I Forgo to Write

In the interest of keeping blog topics flowing in a somewhat straight line - and trust me, these things do tie together - I'd like to chat about thing I forgo in order to get my writing done.

- television - I love TV.  In fact, if I gave up more TV, I'd probably have another dozen books by now.  Of course, I'd also be brain-fried. 

- sporting events on TV - This gets its own category because it has its own pull.  I can miss TV on any given day because I know if I miss something I can catch it reruns later.  Sports doesn't have reruns.  It has highlights, but unless it becomes a classic and channel 25 shows it somewhere in the future, I'll never see the whole game.  Last night, I missed Game 6 of the NLCS to write wherein the Giants put the Phillies down.  I'm running out of baseball for this year.  :sniffle:  I also missed flipping from that to the OU / Mizzou game where Mizzou tumbled OU out of first place in the BCS standings.  :sigh:  It's even worse when I'm here typing and Husband is over there talking about the game.  "You've gotta see the replay for this!  Honey, look.  This is great."  Harumphf.

- housework - not a huge pull, but the guilt of a messy house is tremendous some days.  I think the dustbunnies are about to take over.  I can't remember what color my carpet is.  I haven't seen the top of my dresser in weeks because it's piled with clean clothes.  And Kira's bed has enough hair on it to walk on its own. 

- cooking - Sure, my family gets fed, but if it weren't for microwave steam-in-bag (SIB) stuff, they'd be eating sandwiches five nights a week.  Last night, SIB salmon and SIB rice.  I figure last night was training for what'll happen during November.  Tonight, pizza made with store bought crusts.  I can't remember the last time I made pizza crust.  Probably right before my food processor died, when it was still easy.

- reading - Oh, I still read, but not nearly as much as when I'm not writing.  In fact, for a while I couldn't read when I was writing new words.  The way around that was to not read in the genre I'm writing until the book is firmly seated in my head.  For instance, right now I'm writing a new speculative and I'm reading a thriller.  :shrug:  We do what we can.

- the occasional shower - At the risk of grossing everyone out...  Yep, I stink.  I should've showered last night but I was on a roll with the new book.  By the time I wrapped up for the night, it was time for bed and since my bathroom is en suite, I couldn't shower without keeping Husband up.  This morning, I'm grossing myself out.  As soon as he gets out of bed, I'm totally hopping in there. 

-exercise - Okay, so I probably wouldn't actually exercise if I never wrote again.  Still, sitting here for hours at a time is less exercise than I'd get from walking around the house, doing things like... you know... cleaning.

Of course, reading over this, it might seem like I'm writing all the time.  I'm not.  I'm just not good at budgeting my time.  I could've shifted things around and gotten some things done earlier in the day - except then I would've missed the MSU / Northwestern game...  Ah, sports...  But I digress.  If I were more organized, I'd probably wouldn't have to miss some of the things I like.  I wrote for about two hours last night.  I did some planning and organizing in my head during the MSU game, but two hours was how much time I spent on actual writing.

As NaNo approaches, many people will think about writing a novel.  Some will succeed and others will at least try.  A larger segment of the populous won't even begin because they'll tell themselves they don't have the time.  They might be right.  I think it's more likely, though, they haven't made writing a priority.

I know I asked yesterday, but I'm still interested in the answers.  What to you forgo in order to write?  What could you cut out or cut down to make time (or more time) for writing?

** 7 days to NaNo (not counting today)

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