Failed Writer? Novel Writing with a Bucket

Novel Writing with a Bucket

I don’t mean to start this post off about novel writing with me whining already, but I don’t have loads of time. 40+ hour a week day job. Married. Toddler and teenager in the house. Plus I’m one of those terrible people who needs to sleep in order to function. And then I’m a writer. I just sold one novel and I’m in the midst of working on another novel. I also need to set aside some time for all my brooding and worrying and my therapy visits. Before my little one was born two years ago, I started to grow terrified thinking about how I would manage to keep novel writing amidst this full life. I mean, it seems possible to write one small post or article here and there, but how do you manage a big project in the middle of all this *meshugas*? Well I came up with a method that I gave the unfortunate name of “bucket writing”. It’s not a shocking or incredible idea, it’s more of a framework to help me break a big writing project into smaller chunks, which as far as I can tell, is the only way to manage a big project, like novel writing, with little time. I made a video describing this method for my ongoing video series called, “I’m a Failed Writer“.

Want to check out my tips on novel writing? Well here it is:

Yuvi Zalkow’s stories have been published in Glimmer Train, Narrative Magazine, Carve Magazine, and others. He recently sold his first neurotic novel, which will be published by MP Publishing in the Fall of 2012. He got an MFA from Antioch University in 2010. You can track him down at www.yuvizalkow.com.

Any other busy writers out there? How do *you* manage your novel writing amidst all the busy-ness?