Let me start by saying--I'm not dead. My writing might have disintegrated to near nothingness, but I'm still kicking. Those who know me or see the statuses on Facebook have seen the stresses of kids, work, school, marriage, and the complete lack of writing.
I've picked up my trusty notebook and jotted down the occasional notes along the way, but the idea of completing a second book at this point in time seems about as likely as quitting my job and joining the Peace Corp. But I do miss it, and more importantly, I miss you guys. I've partially kept up with many of you, but it's just not the same.
This blog was originally designed to be a place to write about writing from a newbie's perspective. Well, if I'm not doing much writing, then I am certainly not doing much writing about writing. So, since I don't have time for both, this domain is paid for and is collecting dust, and I miss writing and my fellow writers; I've decided to convert this blog to a place where I can let the creative spirit's flag fly.
I plan to make it a place where I can record life's strange moments, publish short stories,
let chapters of books see daylight, and most importantly, relate and interact. So, be it a story on the hilarious perils of motherhood, venting about being the wife of a grad student, asking the tough questions like "what is that brownish green substance in the back of the fridge", or a simple, "hey I love this song-do you?", I want this to be a place of my own and as freaking random as I am. The only thing off limits is my work, and that's their rules not mine.
So, welcome to the new Eyes 2 Page: Randomly Delicious Anecdotes. I had to get the Hubs and offspring to sign waivers giving me permission to post stories and commentary that may not always portray them in the best light. But I've promised to be fair and embarrass myself along the way. Trust me, I'm quite good at that.
I hope you enjoy, and I look forward to this until the wind blows my flitty nature in another new direction.
I honestly believe that once you accept the ebbs and flows of the writing world, the happier you’ll be. When I first started writing it was all I did. It was an all consuming absorption that pulled me away from other things such as fresh air and laundry. (Not minding the laundry so much.) But then it felt like my well was empty. I was terrified that it was writer’s block, or that the 60K words would never be completed into a complete book.
I went on with my life, feeling guilty for every moment that I wasn’t writing. After about a month, I got the bug again and cracked open the manuscript. Within another two months, it was finished. I immediately dove into another WIP, and about a month after that my mom came to visit for an entire week. Once again, I felt guilty for not touching the book, but knew I’d feel even worse to ignore her to spend time with imaginary people. She left, and once again the well was dry.
A month later, edits. I dove back into original WIP and ripped it apart. Once that was done, I started a third WIP. Two months in, school became so overwhelming that I didn’t have time to write anything but the papers that were required of me, leaving me in another period of ignoring my writing to take care of life.
That’s how it happens. We only have so much time in the day, and we can’t do it all. Well, we can do a little of all of it, a lot of some of it, or be submerged in one thing. When I am submerged in writing, my house looks like it has been ransacked by villains, mail piles up into leaning towers, hanging laundry equals piling it on top of the chest in my room, and dust bunnies learn to hop and help themselves to the carrots in the fridge.
Then something happens—life. I’m normally pretty good at balancing family, school, work, and writing. But sometimes unforeseen circumstances (and heck, sometimes planned events) throw my schedule completely off kilter. This time it was a combination of finals, a car wreck, and the removal of a wisdom tooth. No one was hurt in the car wreck, but it did total my car, leading me to car shopping and negotiating with insurance companies. However, the wisdom tooth was a great deal more pain than I had expected, and the meds were not the best for concentrating on writing. Just sayin. Any of these alone, and I probably would have continued plugging away at the newest WIP and the pile of revisions for Iron Thirst, but combined forget it. I lost.
In the past, I would let the guilt eat at me. But I have been doing this long enough that I have learned to trust that I will come back. I will write again. Stopping in order to catch up on life doesn’t mean that I have flaked, it means that other things require my attention more. Then once all is taken care of (including my own sanity), I can continue.
If you are the type of writer that has a full time job and other responsibilities, give yourself permission to stop and take breaks to make sure the rest of your life is not falling down. Writing can become an obsession, and you have to know when to stop long enough to make sure that you are nourishing your relationships, paying your bills, and cleaning--I don’t know--something. (Preferably before you stop showering, the electricity gets cut off, and your dog packs up and leaves.)
You have to be confident in your writing and the ebbs and flows of a writer’s cycle. They are different for each of us. Trust your instincts, and don’t be so hard on yourself if you need a week or two off. But do come back to it. That is key. The book will forgive you when you come back with an invigorated breath and a fresh vision, but it will not forgive if it’s left to collect dust, because you feel that it’s just too hard.
As for me, I wrapped up the line edits for Iron Thirst, and now I’m going to continue my little hiatus in order to put myself back in a good place. After my house and home life is back in order and I find that fresh vision (normally tucked at the bottom of either a great book or warm cup of coffee), then I will embark on the next writing journey. I think next on my list is to pick up either Craving Copper or The Fate Thieves, which have been in time out for a while. They are ready for some TLC. My most recent WIP, The Hunting Moon, is ready to take a little nap so it can work some things out. Two characters are fighting for the role of co-star. Iron Thirst has been fully revised, and is ready to be queried once I am mentally ready to embrace the no’s.
I pray that one day I can give my life to my writing. But until that day comes, I have to share my time with the many hats that I wear. And I’m ok with that. Because I would rather write a little – than not be able to write at all.
So, how do you juggle all that life throws at you and maintain your writing schedule? Do you allow yourself to take mental breaks? How do you motivate yourself to go back to your writing when the break is done?
The results are in, and I am officially in a slump. Why? Oh, I have a ton of “reasons”. Let’s see… First, there was the holidays – so much to do. Then there was the clean up after. Umm… The week to get my head together. Don’t forget the one centimeter of snow that closed school, a case of the sniffles that stopped my brain, the one-night house guest that stayed for three after he came down with a stomach virus and puked on my clean, folded clothes. (Seriously, dat ain’t fiction.) Now it’s nearly Thursday – I can start fresh next week.
See, I have been gearing up for a round of edits and for some reason I have been avoiding it like the dentist, which I even scheduled that. What am I so afraid of?
But the sad thing is, when I wasn’t up to the task of edits previously I moved on. I started a new project. Starting airing up a new character. But this time I know this is what I need to do. I keep picturing a game of Mortal Kombat, and the guy standing there swaying like me on my birthday, and the deep voice saying, “Finish him.” But I’m frozen.
Why do we procrastinate? Is it fear of failure? Fear of success? Gearing up for the stacks of “no’s” that are coming when I finish the edits, and start querying. I’ll lay on the couch and let you vivisect me this time.
I’ve been reading the blogs and notice a trend of many of my fellow bloggists (go with it) struggling. It helps to know I’m not alone. Is there some sort of anti-writing season, a time of year that’s bad? Can we blame it on the economy? What gives-and how do we move forward?
Sing Kumbaya with me, and let’s press the A B Up Down button together and KO this thing.
My non-writer friends often ask me how I do it all. Work full time, nine hours of college per semester (including summers), be a parent, a wife, and still find time to write.
I will let you in on a little secret. It’s time I reveal something about myself. Please sit down. I’ll wait. You see, I am really a …(say it)…vampire.
I don’t sleep so that frees up a great deal of time right there. I am a special breed of vampire that doesn’t need to suck blood. I survive off of coffee. I don’t sparkle in the sun, but I do shine and will burn (It’s more the Irish blood than the vamp that causes that though.) I can’t transform into a bat, but occasionally I have been a fly on the wall. Not sure if I am immortal—never really tried to die. Don’t want to risk it. But seriously, how else would you know? (Mmmm… there’s something there.)
Well, since you can’t become a vamp too, let me give you some more time saving techniques to free up additional hours that you can spend honing your craft.
-The first thing you should do is down enough coffee, soda, or Redbull that your body gives off a faint hum like that of a power plant.
-Immediately, trade all live plants for silk. Unless your plants are Venus flytraps, then keep. They are useful when you stop washing dishes.
-Collect take-out menus. They also come in very handy to eat pizza off of when you forget to buy paper plates.
-Teach children how to cook their own microwave meals. I mean if you treat it like it’s a video game—they will also get an entertainment value as well as feeling proud for being so darn helpful.
-Learn to use the steering wheel in your car as a desk. The car is a quiet place, and seriously, what else are you going to do at red lights. And remember, a person honking at you to go is not a bad thing. Just a friendly reminder. People like to help.
-Stop dusting. When your friends start to notice tell them that you are growing cobwebs for the most awesome realistic haunted house ever. Then the only time you have to dust is the day before Halloween, when you will tell those same friends that you changed your mind.
-Quit your job and live off the government. I heard they’re throwing in a health plan soon.
-Drink heavily. This helps you lose all sense of time, and ensures that everything you write it SuperFreakinHeelarious or tormented and deep. And I’m sure it will reduce the amounts of edits. See HEMINGWAY.
-Oh, speaking of edits. Only use spell check for edits. It catches everything, right? Just select all and move on.
-Reduce the amount of time you spend querying by creating one letter that reads:
Dear Every Agent Out There-
Please consider my book GREATEST STORY EVER WRITTEN. Better than Twilight or that Dan Brown guy everybody raves about. I didn’t read his work, only watched the movie. He can’t be that great if he did that to Tom Hanks's hair.
Love – Me
Then email to all agents at once and rest assured that you will be represented.
Writing is hard, and it’s time consuming, but we do it because we love it. Or at least we should. If you don’t’ love it, don’t do it. With the exception of paying bills. No one love paying the bills, but if you don’t they’ll turn off your electricity. And it’s impossible to blog stalk without the interwebs.
Seriously though, to answer the question of how we do it all… I do it because I can’t not do it. It’s like breathing.
Please read this with the humor with which it was intended. And for the love of Twain, do not follow any of the advice on this post. (Although I have used my steering wheel as a desk at red lights, I am a trained professional stunt driver. Do not try this at home.)
Please feel free to play along by adding your own time saving techniques ;-) Have a great weekend!!
