Status: Chapter One
I'm typing this right now from my "Bad Mother Cubicle." I have the toddler on my lap facing Monitor #1 (Signing Time on You Tube ) while I'm facing my laptop to type this. I am fully expecting my lump of coal for Mother's Day. My get-over-myself program of recommitting to writing is going well, but as I anticipated, the hardest thing is finding the time to work. Or let me phrase that more accurately: letting myself find the time. I have this perfectionist streak that thinks only in all-or-nothing terms:
"It's only five minutes. That's not even time to open the document! (However, it's time to read Go Fug Yourself) ."
"I'm too tired to do a good job."
"I can't think with Hurricane Tavy in the same room."
"I don't have my laptop with me."
"I'm not going to finish even a page."
If my brain doesn't see the uninterrupted chance to get 1500 words, it doesn't want to bother. However, my brain needs to get over itself. Eli gave me a gift when she said that even when I wasn't writing I was still thinking like a writing. I need to start valuing the little moments when I do ANYTHING that furthers my goals. To this end, I've been stealing little minutes here and there that add up:
- Using the bad mother cubicle
- Sitting in the driveway with a notepad and a sleeping baby
- Trading baby wrangling with a friend
- Taking an extra five or ten minutes at the gym to write down what percolated during my workout.
- Cutting back on my nightly reading time (I know, I'm surprised at me too. This is the most painful one.)
- Using those five to twenty minutes that the Hurricane is happily occupied to stage things for later
- Sitting in the car with a notepad while DH runs into a store with the Hurricane
- Prioritizing so that I get things that require less concentration done quickly so that I have more time later when I do have a block of time
- Putting the baby to be earlier
- Teaching the hurricane how to color (she's obsessed now, and it buys me a few minutes).
NOW, it's time for a drill. Note the time on your screen. For the next five minutes, WRITE. If your document isn't handy, grab a sheet of paper, a back of an envelope, open a blank email to yourself, but choose your medium quickly. If you can't remember where you left off, just grab a snippet of dialogue as it comes to you. You can place it later. No dialogue coming? Ask your characters a couple of questions. Write a paragraph about your character at 10 years old. ANYTHING even remotely related to your current WIP counts. Make bullet points outlining a chapter, make a sketch of a town or room. ANYTHING. Now, didn't that feel good? If you do that drop-everything-and-write drill three more times today, you'll rack up 20 minutes that otherwise would be lost to the ether. Report back!
7 comments:
Well, Wavy, I did as you directed, I wrote for five minutes, but as I was writing anyway, it isn't much to take credit for. I am determined to finish chapter three today and I'm almost there, then email this proposal to Allison tomorrow after I clean up what I have. I think I got part of a conversation done in my five minutes.
I understand I am not really your intended audience. I have lots of time at my disposal so I can make writing a priority. As I didn't begin writing seriously until my kids were in school, it's never been too much of an issue unless life interferes. I used to be able to write through distractions when the kids were still at home -- I could write through just about anything, but a ten year old is not a baby with immediate needs. I don't know how you and Eli and Danita do it.
Your plan to use small moments to move forward sound on the mark to me. Internal motivation is the key to any self directed career. It'll get easier for you as Tavy gets older but I imagine you'll always fight the priority battle as almost every mom does. I've heard writers talk about ignoring their small children to chase after their dreams, somehow justifying the things they miss by naming their eventual success. It always make me feel sad for them and their children. Childhood doesn't wait and what exactly is success, anyway?
I'm rambling. For what it's worth, I think you've made some good decisions about how to handle stolen moments. They do add up.
Like Alice, I didn't seriously start writing until the kids were in school. I used the first two hours after they left to write and then went about the rest of my daily chores.
Your snatching time here and there to jot down things will make writing when you do get a computer flow easier. Anyway, that's what I find. The more I can think about things before I write the better it goes.
As for the five minute thing. I just printed out the last two chapters I wrote. I discovered this morning I haven't been throwing enough rocks. Their relationship the last two chapters is working too easily. They need some road blocks. So I'm changing people's attitudes and adding more obstacles.
Wavy, You have a go for the jugular attitude toward your writing, and I know one day soon, I'll have one of your books in my hands.
Wavy,
I love Paty's last line and I agree with it wholeheartedly!
I just wanted to add in case there are other mothers/priority balancers out there that one thing that works really nicely for me is 15 minutes on/15 minutes off. 15 minutes of doing what *I* need to do, and then 15 minutes of undivided time for Miss T.
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
I'm not really sure HOW I could do this with more than one kid, and yet, I want . . . :)
Ah, stealing time to write. Story of my life.
I think you're on the right track, Wavy. I grab time where I can. When the 4 yr old is at preschool, when he's napping, when he's watching a movie. My DH is great about giving me time to write after dinner - he takes the kids and does homework or plays with them, he cleans up the dishes from dinner. I usually pop away to give kisses and hugs goodnight, then I'm back at work. And unless there's something on he knows I want to watch (like something cool on National Geographic or Friday Night Lights or Rescue Me - the only shows I watch), he doesn't bug me about hanging with him in front of the TV. When I spoke at the Willamette Writers about this very topic (stealing time to write) the biggest piece of advice I had was this one - get your spouse on board. Make sure he/she understands how important writing is to you. If you can do that, your life will be a thousand times easier and finding time to write won't be so hard.
Sure, there are things I miss...like being able to read every night before bed (now I read when I finish a book as a reward, or when I'm blocked and need to get my brain working in another way), or vegging in front of the TV every night and not feeling like I'm wasting time I could be writing...but for the most part, the sacrifices I've made at this point in my life to keep writing are totally worth it. I keep telling myself that someday soon my kids will all be in school and I won't be crazy busy writing at night, but who knows. I may still be. My schedule seems to be constantly changing, so who knows what will happen in a year or two? You can't spend your life thinking about what you'll do down the road. All that really matters is focusing on what you're doing now to get you to your goal.
You guys are all inspiring! :-)
I have a slightly different time issue. I have a challenging day job, one that tends to leave me drained. I'm not complaining, mind you, just still trying to figure out whether I write better in the morning before I start work or in the evening after dinner. They both have their pluses and minuses and I've tried both. At this point I'm being flexible and using whatever time works each day.
Wavy, I took your 5 minute challenge and wrote the first 100 words of the first chapter. I hadn't actually planned to start yet, but I'd been picturing this scene so strongly for the last few days that I decided to just go for it. Interesting challenge!
Five minute challenge, huh? In that time, I did went through part of my draft novella and marked sections that could be cut. I still have a lot of words to cut to get this down to 30,000 words. :)
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