Juggling Writing Schedules

Anyone who is an adjunct professor can tell you that one of the more challenging parts of the job is the schedule that changes every semester.  Many full-time professors have this issue as well, but it is definitely most common to adjuncts.  If one works at a smaller place, then there’s also the challenge of whether or not the class will “make” – if enough students will register for the class to make it worthwhile for the university to actually run it.  So a teacher can plan a course and it doesn’t even run in some scenarios. Every semester has a different rhythm.

In the same vein, writers’ lives have a constantly changing rhythm.  We have to make our own schedules and they can change daily.  It takes a lot of discipline to create a schedule for oneself when there are no outside pressures like deadlines or bosses.  If one is lucky enough to have editor-imposed deadlines, then that’s great, but not all writers are so fortunate to be writing so regularly.

This semester is going to be a crunchy one, for lack of a better adjective.  I am teaching mornings at an international high school (the only “regular” part of my life these days) and then teaching two classes at Temple University – freshman composition.  As of this writing, I’m not yet sure if the classes are the same, or if they are two different ones.    I am still part of a writing group that meets monthly and I fully intend to keep up with my blog twice weekly as usual.  Add to that a book club, the Jewish Community Center Board, and oh yes, my FAMILY.

Remember those people to whom I am supposed to be rededicated??

Starting from today, for the next 13 weeks of the Temple University semester, there will be a lot of juggling happening.  Luckily, writing is not a 9-5 operation.  I can write at my best time of day – 5:30am – if I want to.  I can write while the kids do their homework at night, which is kind of nice actually, with all of us working at the kitchen table.  And if I really need to, in a pinch, I can put off the writing until the following day.  It has been done before.   I am never happy about it, but it is possible.

So hop on the roller coaster with me, readers; the next three months are going to be quite a wild ride!!