Last night we went to a dinner and a local playhouse with some of our best friends. Andy (my husband) and Kurt planned a date night for Heidi and me since our birthdays are just a few days apart. At one point in the conversation, they asked: So when do you write?
And I began telling them. I realized writing is truly squeezed in around the other (more important) parts of my life. I'm a wife, mom, friend, artist, laundry fairy, house cleaner, reader, doll fashion adviser, train track constructor, softball fan, and on and on and on.
This week I wrote: 8 blog posts, 1 guest post for Stenhouse, 4 chapters for Celebrating Writers, edits for 100 + pages of my YA novel, 9 writer's notebook entries for a new YA project, and journaling for 2 scrapbook pages. I also wrote a fairy tale with my seven year old, a nonfiction picture book about home runs with my five year old, and six thank you notes.
So when do I write? In the mornings, up early before everyone else. At night, after the kids are in bed and Andy has settled in to watch a baseball game. Saturday mornings. Sometimes it's only 15 minutes a day. Sometimes it's hours. Sometimes it gets pushed until later and I never quite get to it. Sometimes it's first on the agenda.
For me, it's not so much about finding time, but finding time that doesn't interfere with all the other good stuff happening in life. It's about figuring out what I can give up that doesn't effect the other members of my family. And it's about saying things are good enough, blog posts, emails, and writer's notebook entries, even if I want to spend more time.
You've got me exhausted with how much you accomplish! I'm inspired to try harder :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how you are able to do all that, but admire and am grateful that you do! I think I could say I write in snatches, whenever I can, and sometimes there are gifts of long parts of the day that work, especially in the summer.
ReplyDeleteHi Ruth,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Supports my idea that writing many things at once is a possibility. What is your new YA project?
I was thrilled to see your mention of Celebrating Writers. I instantly had to click back to your "My Books" page to see more. If you posted about it, I must have missed it. The last time I read your page it had said you were hoping to soon mention your latest project. I could not be more excited with the focus of your next book. I have shared many times that celebrations is an area that I still would like to improve so much. I loved the Donald Graves anecdote, and I can't wait to read the book. It seems like it will address celebrations in the general sense, but I am also excited about the possibilities for the allusions to the bigger picture celebration of writers! Congratulations on your latest accepted proposal. I will anxiously await the publication.
ReplyDeleteYou last sentence left me pondering.MHG
ReplyDelete