Writing Day
Today is a writing day.
"What?" you ask. (See, I can really ALL your minds.) "Isn't EVERY day a writing day?'
"Hahahahahahahahahaha!" I laugh, wiping the tears away. There. My tears of laughter have fallen on my keyboard. One perfect teardop is there on letter "k." Now I typed it and it's not there anymore.
Here's a quote that relates to this post (from one of my favorite writers):
The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn't behave that way you would never do anything. ~ John Irving
And here's the thing about "Writing Day." I get asked all the time--it's one of those interview questions that pops up again and again--"What's a typical writing day for you?" or "What's your writing schedule?"
"Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" Sorry, I had to laugh again. You see, I don't have one. I used to say that I wished I had one, but that Demon Baby and three other children and life as a mother of four and a volunteer and a general b-word got in the way. But that's not quite true. Because I've been this way for so long, I don't know what I would do if I could have a schedule. If in some weird alternate universe the laundry was done and the beds were made, and my dad WASN'T visiting and wanting me to look up "diverticulosis" symptoms on the internet. And Older Son wasn't Food Poisoning Boy (turns out, after some thinking, it's NOT the flu but . . . beef-fried rice--thank God, I don't eat meat). If Older Daughter wasn't creating laundry with her mere existence. (She's a FOOT shorter than I am but uses three towels per shower, which calculates to some heavy-duty towel real estate per square inch of wet body.)
See, this is just how I am. But all that said, and I am quite chatty and laugh-filled this a.m., today is a writing day. Which means that the laundry is only the height of my waist and not my head, no one is vomiting (Food Poisoning Boy just FEELS awful, but the Alien-like eruptions have stopped), Dad has an appointment with a G.I. doctor so I can stop playing Web M.D., the kitchen is (sort of) clean. And so I can, without guilt, without anything but delight, open up my new book, read through the first 75 pages and then send them off to my wonderful new editor, who is really growing on me when he says stuff like, "I am SO excited for this book, I am bringing ARCs to Barcelona."
And, like John Irving says, this is what I do when I have a day like today. When I have a spare minute. I am as GIDDY as a schoolgirl. Or a Demon Baby who has found his sister's stash of M&Ms. Yes, I am at this game YEARS now, and a day like today still rocks my world. It is STILL that fun. It is STILL what I want to do when I grow up.
Yesterday, Alyson Noel summed it up here on the blog in the comments section. A bad day writing is better than a good day as a flight attendant wearing horrid polyester. (And go congratulate Alyson on her new book deal!)
So do you have a writing schedule? And is a writing day still . . . electric? Better than finding your sister's M&M stash? Yesterday was about I-Suck-itis. Today is a celebration. Celebrate Writing Day. Celebrate laundry being done. Celebrate the fact that diverticulosis isn't fatal, Dad. Celebrate Demon Baby's nanny comes today (I get her for 12 wonderful hours a week!) Celebrate . . . you have a spare moment and can write because it's what you do. What do you have to celebrate?
29 comments:
Hubby is in charge of the M&M stash, doling out the small bags in reasonable time frames, at my request. (Otherwise, I scarf the all at once.) And there are times when, in desperation, I search for the current M&M hiding place. Demon Baby is an inspiration!
I eagerly look forward to my writing time. It's not always scheduled. Work and career change efforts tend to interfere. BUT when I am able to dive in...there's nothing like it. Add popping M&Ms, by color no less, as I write, and I'm one happy writer.
Here's to no polyester alerts in our writing futures.
From now on, I'm starting every day knowing I am MIGHTY. Thanks, Zoe!
Congrats on the book deal, Alyson!
Happy writing, Erica!
Kathy:
To no polyester!
E
Jude:
I LOVE that site, now, too!!!
E
Woo hoo! Those are my FAVORITE days. Every so often, I get a chance to take a whole day and write from the get-go to the get-'er-done, and at the end of the day, I'm relaxed and jovial. Oftentimes, I'll end up working a few more hours those nights ... And I think to myself, This is how it ought to be. I draw energy from it, rather than it drawing energy from me.
Have a happy writing day.
Hi Erica,
The other day I was whining to a friend that I was having one of those lack-of-concentration days. I was restless. I couldn't get any traction. Waaa! (Echoes of your "I suck as a writer" post.)
Then I got to thinking: Rethink that. How many people in the would love to be in my position? I have the time to write. I am encouraged to write. It is a privilege to write. How dare I squander such a gift?
So I did something radical: I exited the Internet and faced my WIP. Know what? I produced some of the clearest, cleanest work I've done in a long time.
When I finished for the day, I said a silent "thank you" to the Universe for giving me the freedom to do what I love. I could be working on an assembly line.
I love Irving's quote.
Happy writing to you.
Tena:
That's a wonderful thing to celebrate today!
:-)
E
Hey JVZ;
Yes, it's much better than an I-Suck-itis day.
:-)
E
I set aside lots of writing time for myself over the holidays, and it was wonderful. Now I'm back to work, which is just depressing, because writing is relegated to the time snatched after I get home from work and before I make dinner. Enjoy your writing day! May it be productive and fun.
hi booklady:
My dad just came down and I probably have to take him to the doctor. SO, writing Day may be "Sit in a Waiting Room" day, which is why I don't have a writing schedule. BUT, I am VERY GRATEFUL to have the flexibility.
E
Oddly I'm celebrating that I don't have a job right now. I know I've got to get one. I know I have to make some money, but while I don't have a job, I can write more. Of course yesterday I didn't write at all because I was all absorbed in the Sookie Stackhouse series, but this morning, after yoga, I'm editing first thing. (I've said it here with witnesses, now I have to do it or I'm a big fat liar.)
k.s.: The M&M thing reminds me of my 7th grade english teacher. She used to give out M&Ms when we did good things. I miss her.
Your welcome Jude!
Congrats Alyson, on your new polyester free life. Polyester is bad for everyone and should be outlawed.
Erica, can you write longhand in the waiting room and transcribe it later? (or do the laptop thing. I still haven't entered the laptop elite so I forget other people have them.)
zoe:
Were this a NORMAL human being, I could write and transcribe. But this is Dad, meaning . . . I will have to sit and listen to his aches and pains and talk him through it. LOL!
E
Tena put it beautifully. I remember going to a small conference years ago. I was sitting next to a lawyer's wife who had access to a lovely office, all the high-tech equipment she wanted (I know this because she told me) LOL. Anyway, I was working full-time outside the home, and struggling to get my stories down and take care of my two daughters. I thought then and there, if I could have that precious time I wouldn't squander it. It took years and now on days when I avoid the page, I go back there in my mind and all is right again. We're a lucky group of people!
Erica,
Ah...a hypochondriac. Fun times.
I did, but I'm still trying to get back on track after DH and the holidays. I prefer the old way, definitely. I do especially love Fridays, because those are my all-day-at-Borders and writing-all-day days.
I go to Borders, get my tea, and pick out a stack of books that keep me company (DH calls them my "friends"), although I rarely have time to read them. Then I write, then wander the stacks, then write, then wander. I love Borders. Somedays I'll admit to doing more wandering and reading than writing, but until this week, I'd at least go for two - three hours every day.
Thanks for the reminder that any time writing is better than any time not! I do set aside alot of time for writing -- and those special times feel like real treats. Otherwise I just write whenever I can. Most often in lieu of laundry!
My writing days are Fridays! I babysit on those days and the kids all play together and have a great time. Nothing better for me to do but sit with a pad of paper and go for it!
For home, I have iron blinders on. DH plays Kill Zone right next to me, kids are Nintendoing and Im off in my own world. Somehow it works. lol
Write On!
What I'm thankful for today....
...My cat, who has CRF due to the pet food problems of 2007, ate last night for the first time in days and didn't throw up.
...My friend who has been going through a really rough few weeks was able to, after a long conversation and some meditation techniques, sleep last night and is now tiptoeing away from the edge.
...I'm sitting at my keyboard, ready to write.
Life is extraordinary and I am so lucky.
Jen
ladonna:
Lucky, indeed!
:-)
E
spy:
What a totally cool way to spend a day! I am jealous. Demon Baby would destroy Borders in under twenty minutes.
E
Amy:
I agree. They are like treats--like this guilty pleasure.
E
Colleen:
I have to have blinders too. Sometimes it works.
Sometimes it doesn't.
Certain sounds are like fingernails on a blackboard--Demon Baby whining, for instance. Some things, like TV, I can tune out.
E
J.K.:
Peace to you. Those sound like good things.
E
LOL... but worse then whining is silence. That's when you know real trouble is in full swing, and you have to go discover it all too late! LOL!!
I only have on real writing day per week. All others are catch as you can day of trying to write whenever I can. Sigh.
I'm celebrating because I have my computer back after a nearly two days with it at the repair shop. And my car can reverse too, which it didn't do on Monday. And if you're wondering about the third thing, that happened too and is okay. So now everything is looking up. :)
A lot of writers I know fit their writing in the pauses between chores. It's really a matter of perspective: I fit the chores in the pauses between bouts of writing.
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