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| Image from “A Tramp Abroad” by Mark Twain. |
First up, congrats to Christina Kit, who won the ARC of TRY NOT TO BREATHE! And everyone else, please do look out for TRY NOT TO BREATHE when it comes out next month (and Jenn’s debut THE SECRET YEAR, while you’re at it).
Now then! If you are a writer, chances are you’ve had to set something else aside that you like doing in order to free up the time necessary to complete a book.
For me, I really enjoy video games and used to play them a bit before writing. Now? Not so much. I also watch less sports and TV in general, go to the movies less, and if I weren’t indoors writing on the weekend I’d probably be out hiking.
What about you?
I gave up TV a long time ago, to make time to write and have never regretted it. The one thing I do miss that took a sideline for writing was my art. Occasionally, when the writing isn't going well, I'll go back to art for a little while. It gets the creativity flowing again.
Until I'm actually published and paid for my writing, I consider what avocational writing I do as my primary hobby. But as I've worked on my current WIP, my ukulele practice has had to take a back seat. That'll change when I finish my first draft.
I play (or used to regularly play) the drums. I work full-time as a copywriter, so I have to choose between fiction-writing and drumming as my main hobby. For now, writing wins the front burner while drumming waits on the back. But I still have my set, stacked in its cases, in my bedroom. I'd probably also do more dancing if it weren't for writing, but it's much easier to fit that in. And like many others here, I've severely curbed my TV-watching.
I wouldn't change a thing. 🙂
I gave up Srapbooking…. Used to 'produce' a page a month or so, but the inspiration to embellish photo(s) on a page has now well and truly gone. I still love taking photos, but now I just enjoy it through my iPhoto albums 🙂
Video games. Watching obscure international sports. Pretending to be a DJ.
When I first started writing on a daily basis, it cut into my reading time in a big way, until I realized I was essentially starving myself. Now, I watch a lot less TV. I used to make jewlery, which I also do much less of. Probably for the best, as it was an expensive hobby.
Ah, yes. Video games. I am in love with digital photography and photo editing, shooting HD video with my DSLR and editing the clips, and trying to put together some glitch and dubstep tracks with Sony ACID Pro 7 but I rarerly get to snap pics or shoot video. Hell, I'm on SoundCloud and haven't uploaded a single track. I am currently reading like a fiend to try and improve my writing so that means little writing. Something's got to give!
When I return to class I'm not going to be able to write at all so I'm looking to get the first draft finished by April and first revisions by August. Want it done before I'm 35 which will be in a year and a half. It's looking grim, these days…
I love to play video games, read, cook and watch movies. I love to hang out with friends and family as well. I haven't gave up of anything I love doing, nor do I plan to. I'm aiming to be an author, but I refuse to give up on anything I love to do because of it. No one should. Having less time to do the things you love is one thing, but giving it up? That's ridiculous. While balance in life hard to achieve, it is achieveable. I also treat writing like a job instead of a hobby so all of this could be just my case though 🙂