I had originally intended to write a little bit every day - just to get myself into the habit of sitting down to write, stimulating the flow of entertaining ideas and cascading words onto the screen. Enter reality. As I ponder the angle of writing about writing (I do love some good irony), I realize my biggest issue at the moment is - drum roll, please - TIME!!
Now, to be clear, I have to distinguish between the writing I do as a contractor and the writing I do because the words just have to be written down or lost forever. Obviously, money and deadlines are immensely important, as well as building my professional reputation, and therefore, take priority. However, it blows my mind that at least 4 of my all-time favorite authors, who have written multiple and immensely successful novels, started writing when they had Young Children!! Yes, Stephenie Meyer, J.K. Rowling, Diana Gabaldon, and Nora Roberts ALL had young children when they first put pen (or pencil) to paper and produced a first novel. Amazing. To be honest, sometimes, I'm fortunate to get a shower during the day, much less sit down at the computer and type when a brilliant idea pops into my head. I have a feeling that the talk-to-text feature on my iPhone is going to become my bff....
In any case, I'm reminded of some words of wisdom that I once heard someone say, somewhere, at some point regarding relationships: If you're important to someone, they'll find time for you. This, I think, is applicable to anything in our lives. We spend our time doing things that are important to us, whether it's working time, family time, chill time.... or writing time. If it's important to me, I'll do it.
On a side note, I'd just like to express my contention, no - Firm Belief - that a relevant title for ANYTHING can be found in 80's song lyrics. This one is courtesy of Culture Club and their song "Time". Thank you, Boy George. =) That is my promise to myself and to you, my dear reader - that all of my blog posts will be titled thusly. (I may have made up that last word - Spellcheck says so - but I'm leaving it alone because I feel it's appropriate.)
Baby just woke up. My immediate priorities just shifted....
# OF PROOFREADS: 15
# OF EDITS: 12
I completely sympathize. After several false starts on a novel (including one that reached 40k words before abandoning it), I finally finished a first draft and am nearing publication. It was not through force of will or becoming more organized that it happened, though. I just kept trying again and finally found myself with some down time and no distractions when travelling for business.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, this novel uses many lines from 80's music (and maybe a couple predating that decade and at least one from the 90s) in the telling.
So, stick with it and keep on Keeping the Faith; you can Never Surrender and you will be Invincible in achieving something to be proud of.
Not sure why my first comment didn't take, but just wanted to encourage you to keep writing! I finally finished my first novel and am in the final stages of editing and the sense of accomplishment that comes from finally doing it is well worth the failures and false starts that came before.
ReplyDeleteAlso wanted to note that said novel has MANY references to classic rock lyrics.
Thanks for the encouragement, Charlie!! I've been working on a novel too, but it's been a while since I've had a chance to pick it up. I hope to be able to read yours sometime! Anything with references to rock lyrics has to be good. =)
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