Blogger: Mary Keeley
After several conversations with clients this week I’ve been musing about the different approaches authors take to their writing. They are as varied as the writers themselves. But several habits stand out.
Write every day. This week a client told me she needs to take a break from writing her next book because her family requires her full-time attention in the next months. She might not be working on a manuscript or contributing to a blog, but she won’t be able to turn off her wonderfully creative brain.
I advised her to continue putting pen to paper in free moments every day. Perhaps you, too, have experienced periods of time when other responsibilities consumed your attention. Or perhaps that time will occur this year. Life happens. But keep writing something daily. It could be journal entries, recording an observation of a situation that attracted your attention, writing down a sudden insight to developing characterization or a quick plot idea you can use in your manuscript later. It’s possible to continue to grow in your craft during sabbaticals. It’s also possible to lose ground if you don’t keep at it.
Research. As much as it is financially and humanly possible, get out there and spend time in your book’s setting, even if you think you already know it well. Don’t limit your research primarily to online sources. Absorb the smells, the way the sun filters through the trees, people’s faces and storefronts—the “feel of the area.” Those of you writing historical will have to trust local historians’ recollections. Interview several to get a reliable consensus.
If you are writing nonfiction, spend as much time as possible in the real-life context of your topic. Take time to notice little details you may have missed previously. Record specific elements that impact you most. Seek out experts or eyewitnesses for in-person interviews. There is much to be learned and intuited through body language, facial expressions, and spoken words. You may decide you want to adjust your focus or re-prioritize your material.
Your personal experience with these details and nuances will help you to bring your book to life and make it the best it can be.
Set specific writing hours. Here is a creative scheduling arrangement I heard about recently. One author makes herself fully available for her children after school, prepares dinner for her family at the normal time, and spends the evening helping her children with homework and getting them to bed. She spends the rest of the evening enjoying time with her husband before they retire for the night. A normal family schedule, right? But then she gets up about 1:00 AM and writes for three or four hours. Her husband gets the children off to school in the morning so she can sleep later. This schedule works for her family. It wouldn’t work for everyone, but where there is a will, there is a way. Tailor a plan that is best for your situation and then maintain it consistently. Pretty soon your perhaps unconventional routine will become your new normal.
Was there a time your life when responsibilities necessitated time away from writing? How did you keep practicing and growing during that time? What percentage of your research is done in person and online? What kind of consistent writing schedule works for you and your family?
Lindsay Harrel
Since my husband and I don’t have children yet, the schedule isn’t as difficult to set. I typically will write/revise for an hour after I get off work (from about 4-5), then cook dinner and eat with him, then revise/write some more from 6:30-8:30 or so. It’s not as much time as I’d like, but there are so many things to fit into a day. I’m just trusting that God will help me use the time I do have and bless it.
I have taken a few short breaks, but nothing too huge. The short breaks leave me refreshed and ready to dive back in when I return.
Mary Keeley
Lindsay, you must have done a good job training your brain to switch from at-work mode to writing mode. Is it simply the change of scenery, or do you add other atmosphere like special music as white noise?
Lindsay Harrel
You know, for the last several months, I think it was because I had a 30-minute drive and had been dreaming all day of revising (grateful for a job, but wishing I could stay home and write all day if you know what I mean!). So it was great to pump a little out before dinner.
Now, I’ve started a new job where I’ll be working from home most of the time (yay!), so I think I’ll work at my desk for work time and then go sit in my favorite comfy chair or on the couch for my fiction writing. It’ll be an adjustment, but I think it can work. 🙂
Lisa
I love these ideas, thank you. I turn off my computer from when my kids get home from school until they are in bed. They are still young and go to bed at 8. After that I do a majority of my writing. Even times when I’ve taken breaks, I always keep paper and pen close to jot down ideas.
Jeanne T
Especially when I’m in the beginning stages of crafting and writing a story, a composition book and pen go with me wherever I go. I just never know when an idea will come along. 🙂
Jennifer Major
I was sitting in a FREEZING cold hockey rink last weekend, feverishly (Oh yeah, I went there…LY) writing ideas in my notebook. One cannot pick and choose where and when inspiration comes and expects to visit.
Cheryl Malandrinos
Having a hockey player and two figure skaters, I understand exactly where you’re coming from, Jennifer. I wrote a lot of great stuff in the years they were on the ice.
Becky Doughty
Jennifer – isn’t it true? I try to set hours, but often I find myself unable to write during…and chomping at the bit when the screen is supposed to be black. Why is that? Perhaps my OD? (Oppositional Disorder – yeah, I’ve got it. So?)
Jeanne T
I like your post, and the reminders of what we should be doing as writers. This past December, my husband asked me to take a two week break from working on my story. It ended up being three, and that break gave my mind the freedom to think on blog posts for when I begin a blog, my next story, and some changes I can make to my current one. The break was good for me, and it was helpful that a specific time period was set.
I’ve done research in person and on line. As much as I can, I go check things out in person. But, there are certain places/activities i can’t do in person. You Tube is a great place to learn how to do things like lay a wood floor or learn the salsa.
My writing schedule varies from day to day because of outside activities. I try to be up between 4:00-4:15 in the morning to write for an hour, and I work to squeeze in another hour or two during the day, depending on the day. Some evenings, I get another hour in before I head to bed. I have set aside one day a week where I try not to have any appointments, so that I can write for the day. Every now and then, I get two days like that. I love those days!
Jennifer Major
You’re up at 4am?? Huh. I bet no one else on the planet is up then…;)
Jeanne T
My hubby is. 🙂 But quite possibly no one else is. 😉
Elizabeth Saunders
Thanks for this, Mary. I hear “write every day” all the time, and someday it’ll sink in. I don’t even have children, but with multiple part-time jobs I don’t have a routine, either. I just started carrying a small notebook in my purse, and hope that will help.
Going on research trips really revs up my writing, but I can’t go all the time. Next week I’m going to a local historical re-enactment to get some fresh details.
Mary Keeley
Elizabeth, multiple part-time jobs surely will create a challenge. But the handy notebook is a great idea. Also use it to write down a word or phrase you hear that strikes you. It may be the perfect one for a scene later. Journal about your strong emotional response to an action or person, a beautiful or desolate place you encounter.
Jill Kemerer
Love your advice about spending time in your setting. I set a series of books in Virginia (we lived there for a year and a half) because the setting was imprinted on my brain. The smells, the feel of the air, the way the sun felt more intense–and boxwoods!!–all of that left a big impression on me.
I waited years for this, but I’m able to write full time while the kids are in school. It’s the best! For years, I put writing on hold–but even then I joined a writers’ group where we wrote assignments twice a month, and I also researched and wrote down plot ideas.
Where there’s a will, there’s a writer writing!
Sarah Thomas
Yes to spending time in the setting! My books are set in the West Virginia of my growing up years. Now when I go home for a visit I see things through the lens of my novels–there’s the pond Ella fell in; there’s the rock Liza sat on to tell her story; there’s the spot Sadie has lunch on her own . . . Going home really revs up my writing, it’s like stepping into my books.
Jennifer Major
I love my kids, but Christmas vacation was NOT the time to begin an overhaul of the WIP and try to get a clear thought down on anything. Although I know that bathroom tissue can handle a pen.
WHAT? Like no one else has written on their Charmin??
Jan Thompson
Tissues and paper towels make great blotters for fountain pens 🙂
I agree about Christmas not being the time to WIP into shape, for me anyway. I didn’t touch my WIP at all through new year. I was “mom on call,” and never made it to my writing desk during the hols…
I did keep lots of paper handy just in case I had ideas I needed to write down. Somehow my ideas form better on a clipboard rather than on an iPad.
Jill Kemerer
I no longer write or edit or even blog during the holidays. I am lucky to get the normal Christmas broo-ha-ha done! And I always come back to my writing, editing, and blogging with renewed energy in January. 🙂
Cynthia Herron
Mary, there was a lonesome period when I had to step away from writing.
Still, as I spent years in and out of hospitals with a family member, I always wrote something. Sometimes, it might just be a thought, a phrase, or a description of the scents around me, but I scribbled those things on napkins, notepads, and styrofoam cups–whatever was available at the moment. It kept me sane as I listened to the hum and beat of the monitors and machinery around me.
It was a time of seasoning, but I never gave up. That still, small voice encouraged me to press on.
Fast forward to now, to brighter days. I’m able to write and create during the day, with mornings being my most productive. In the evenings, we have a traditional family supper hour and talk about the day’s events. I cherish those moments!
Thank you so much for your upbeat words today! Here’s to a super weekend!
Jill Kemerer
Usually our lives are just a little too full when God asks us to step away. I’m glad your life has enough room now. 🙂
I bought myself a cute little pocket notebook with a Cardinal on it and write things down all the time!
Mary Keeley
Cynthia, I know those difficult years weren’t wasted. God was working in and through you. I hope you saved all those napkins, notepads, and Styrofoam cups. And I’m glad you persevered in following his still, small voice. How blessed you are now.
Leia Brown
Mary,
Thank you for this post. I really struggle with this – creating a routine. I copy edit from home, and I never know when a big project will be sent to me. When one comes, it swallows all my time. Add that to wanting to be an A+ wife and mom and an intentional disciple-maker in my church, and you have a writer with bubbling ideas that never seem to make it from her head to her computer screen. So I looked at my life, and I looked at your suggestions, and at first it seemed like they could never mesh. “That would certainly take a tremendous amount of self-discipline,” I said to myself. But, “self-discipline” sounded a whole lot like “self-control,” which caused me to think of the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. And that’s where conviction set in, because self-control is the most ironic Fruit of the Spirit, in my opinion. It’s got the word “self” right there in it, but the idea behind the Fruit of the Spirit is that God produces those qualities in me as I submit to him – not that I muster up the qualities on my own strength. So, if I need self-control to create time to write, God is the one who can provide that fruit for me. Thanks for leading me down this mental path today!
Jill Kemerer
I think the A+ about sums it up in your comment! I know I pressure myself to do everything right. Lately I’ve been taking more breaks, reading more books. I find I’m more A+ worthy when I give myself permission to be a B-!
Blessings to you!
Mary Keeley
Leia, trying to schedule a regular writing schedule around your copy editing work is a definite challenge when deadlines are tight. But work in even half an hour a day for journaling and reading about writing. You’ll be surprised at how you will grow in your craft while you wait for the time when you can write your manuscript.
Kathryn Barker
When our children were young, I wrote and assembled (the old way: type it, cut and paste, and then copy) newsletters for a variety of organizations in which I participated. Of course, the children helped too by folding, stapling and sorting by zip code.
And I’ve always kept a file of ideas, locations and real life stories that might be classified as “unbelievable” for inspiration.
Research is stimulating and for me, addictive. So, I treat research like making tea: timing the infusion of the leaves is paramount~too short a time in the water equals weak tea~too long in the water means the tea is bitter and undrinkable.
Consistency this last year has been difficult due to many extended family issues which has required frequent traveling for us. One of my goals for this year is to develop a routine or a habit flexible enough to accommodate unexpected interruptions of time.
Thanks Mary for the great reminders!
Mary Keeley
Kathryn, it sounds like you have a valuable file. I think those who love to research (myself included) are people who are lifelong learners.
I hope this year is more routine for you.
Anita Mae Draper
This is very timely. Last week I completed a 4 week sabbatical from my mss because my church and family needed me. I still blogged, researched, and even wrote a 4 page screenplay for our church, which in itself needed research. I still spent 2-3 hrs total on my laptop daily.
Up here on the Canadian prairies the tourism season runs from Victoria Day in May, to Labour Day in Sept. That’s only 4 months and then all but the biggest museums, etc, close for the season. Gas is cheaper in the winter, but that’s because no one leaves home unless they have to due to inclement weather and horrid road conditions. Of course, the museums could stay open, but then they’d have to run their furnaces and ensure pipes aren’t freezing and that would drive up ticket prices. I research online during those months. Come May, I tuck away my cabin fever and I’m off on my research trips. Oh yeah!
My normal schedule is to work in my office from 9-5, then spend the evening with the family. By 10 they’re all in bed and like Lisa above, I go back to writing – sometimes for an hour, other times I’m still at it when hubby gets up at 0530. Sometimes I go to bed with the family, then wake at 0400 or 0300, or even 0230 hrs, and get back into it.
As well as my office ‘out back’, I have a writing armoire in a corner of the living room where I spent my evenings with the family. Although I’m with them, I use this time for social networking because I’m open to the conversation or TV show. But I’m in a corner and my back is facing the family and the boys tend not to disturb me if my back is turned. Recently, in an effort to show I was available and not just ‘there’, I started using a TV tray – the kind that slides under the sofa. I sit in my work chair in my corner, turn, pull up the TV tray, and plop my laptop on it. Facing the room at large, the boys have realized I’m more receptive and they share more. 🙂
Jennifer Major
The Prairies?!?! Well I’ll be! I live in New Brunswick. I went to school in Cowtown back in the ’80s, but I grew up in Vancouver.
I love our Prairies!! I’ve even been to Dief’s first law office!
Anita Mae Draper
Hey, Jennifer, I haven’t been to Dief’s anything. 😀
I was born in Ontario and it will be easier to say where I haven’t been… PEI, Newfoundland, and New Brunswick. The only reason I made it out to Nova Scotia was to attend 11 wks of Boot Camp. I have to admit, though, waking at 5 am and smelling that Bay of Fundy in the air – I’ll never forget that. Even now I can close my eyes and the dank, misty mornings come to mind. Love it.
Between you and I, we have most of the country covered. LOL
Mary Keeley
Anita, you’ve done a great job accommodating your writing routine to your two seasons up on the prairies. It’s working for you. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Anita Mae Draper
Thanks. And I’d really be on way if my will was better, too. Haha.
Meghan Carver
With your first bold sentence, Mary, “write every day” I was discouraged. I have six children and although I jealously guard nap time, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. But as I continued to read I was so encouraged! I thought back over my activities for the past few months and realized how much I actually had been writing, just not in 5,000 word chunks. I have written over a hundred blog posts which have grown my platform tremendously. Just by keeping my brain going and jotting down notes I’ve ended up with the outlined plot (about 10,000 words) for a third novel. I also sketched out several thousand words in outlining another novel that I’m putting aside for a better time. Thank you, Mary. You made my day!
Sarah Thomas
Meghan, I started keeping a writing log this year. Each day I write down either the word count for the day or the thing that prevented my writing. Tuesday nights are Bible study with the girls–it will be a rare Tuesday that has a word count and I think that’s a-okay!
Jan Thompson
Great idea for a writing log! Judy Christie’s article about keeping a calendar of word counts and writing time has been helpful to me.
In the article, she wrote: “When I flounder as a writer, it’s because I’m inconsistent with my daily writing discipline. When I produce my best stories, I rely on that basic lesson from the masters – words on the page.”
Source: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-no-1-tip-of-successful-writers
Jill Kemerer
I love that you’re giving yourself credit where it is due, Meghan! It’s hard not to have an all-or-nothing mentality, but everything adds up! Yay, you!
Jennifer Major
My babies are all in school and that makes writing possible. Otherwise, I’d have to be crazy and get up at 4am. Oops, I mean, I’d have to be like Jeanne T and be well disciplined. (As if I could do that!)
I’ve been writing for a newspaper for 5 years, and I KNOW my best writing is done when the house is quiet. Either that, or I play the same songs on my ipod over and over. The repetition is enough to silence the household hum.
As for consistency, Monday to Friday during school hours is easy to plan, weekends? Pfffft.
My research trip last summer to Arizona and New Mexico (with a stop for dinner in Texas) was INSANE. What a huge blessing to be on the same patch of grass that Sherman and Manuelito/ Nabaah Jilt’aa, signed the treaty in 1868. It was enough for me to stand there and gasp for air. Yes, I bent down and touched the ground.
And smelled the dry air, and looked at the alkali rich Pecos River.
I hope to back very soon.
Kiersti
I love hearing about your trip to Bosque Redondo, Jennifer…makes me want to go too, though I know it must be heartbreaking.
Jennifer Major
Utterly and completely. The wind is constant and all you see is scrub and a few sad trees along the river.
Although, I do not understand why they museum entrance is a teepee. Somebody sure didn’t do their homework!!
Jill Kemerer
Full time school hours are the best! The research trip sounds amazing!!
Jennifer Major
It was, but it was HOT. July in NM and AZ was enough to melt this Canadian.
Gabrielle Meyer
I can relate to an interesting schedule that probably wouldn’t work for everyone. I have four children, ages 8, 6, 2 & 2 (almost 3!). My husband has his own landscaping business, so all summer he’s working sun up to sun down and all winter he’s home full time. I have two separate schedules: winter and summer. Right now my husband gets up with the older two and brings them to school, while the twins and I sleep in until about 8:30. Once we’re up it’s a myriad of responsibilities that keep me busy through the day, with my blogging breaks in between. At night, when everyone is in bed by 9:00 p.m., I put on my writing cap and write until about 12/1 a.m. It gives me three/four hours of consistent, uninterrupted writing time.
I write historicals set in my hometown in central Minnesota and I love observing the changing seasons, I love driving around and noticing little architectural details on buildings and I love immersing myself in our county history museum. My house is on the banks of the Mississippi, and much of my stories are centered around the lovely river.
I love your points above, Mary. When I found out my twins were on the way I realized my writing would have to be set down for a season, but even when I couldn’t write, I was still growing, changing and experiencing life, which would become invaluable to me when I could start writing again.
Mary Keeley
Gabrielle, it’s clear to see you have settled into a consistent schedule that works for your family. And in this season when your twins are very young, it was a smart move to set your stories around your own town where research is just outside your door.
Becky Doughty
Hi Mary,
This is one of those “to do” things. I always think I’m going to have a set schedule… but then the dog eats the stuffed animal, the home-school math lesson does NOT go well (that happens often enough I should just PLAN for it!), and the casserole doesn’t get in the oven on time.
I think I’m learning to have a “Big Picture” vision of each day. That Proverbs 16;9 passage is my guide: “The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.” Plan, He tells me–it’s why I gave you a brain–but be prepared to flex and bend or even turn around altogether.
It works in a half-hazard sort of way…but then, I’m a half-hazard sort of girl, and HE kinda likes me this way. He told me so. 🙂
Blessings,
Becky
Jennifer Major
You’re not half-hazard, you’re full on Becky, and I think you’re perfect the way you are. 🙂
Cheryl Malandrinos
I love this post and the discussions. It’s always interesting to hear how others work.
Balancing home and family life has always been a struggle because my hubby–wonderful though he is–wants me to abandon my writing for something more…um…profitable. I keep praying that I’ll find a good way to blend everything together. I’m impatiently waiting on God’s plan. 🙂
That said, I’ve found ways to make more time for my writing over the last few months. I’m not a morning person, so I get up with the kids, get them off to school, and then start laundry. Once email is checked, I feel free to write for a while. Sometimes it’s an hour, other times, it’s more. It depends on my day. When the girls get home, I walk away from the computer unless they are busy with friends. Then I don’t go back to work until they are in bed.
Even if I don’t work on my WIP, I am always blogging or plotting. I perform a lot of my research online, but I’ve found memoirs very helpful as a resource for daily life in a particular setting. The librarians can usually tell when I’m working on a new project, because I am often requesting materials from libraries across the country.
Thanks for ending my week on an encouraging note.
Mary Keeley
You’re welcome, Cheryl. You brought up an important point. Some people are at their best in the morning. Others couldn’t comprehend writing in the wee hours of the morning. This important factor should be accommodated in your writing schedule if and when possible.
Stephanie M.
My kids are 3, 2, and 1 and I work full-time, so writing is squeezed in here and there. I always have a notebook or scrap of paper w/ me for loose ideas and I try to make sure I have my latest WIP printed out so even if I’m too tired to be creative I can at least revise (And am usually inspired to add at least a paragraph or two). I also try to blog at least once a week and do 5 tweets a day. It’s not ideal, but do-able esp. since the kids are so little. I figure I have the rest of my life to write and am not going to put too much pressure on myself right now.
Mary Keeley
Stephanie, you have a great outlook. I’m impressed you can fit everything you are currently doing into you day. But it will serve you well when you can schedule regular time for your WIP.
Elissa
I have walked away from writing for years at a time. Sometimes it was demands of family, sometimes work. I am the example of what happens when you don’t write.
The. Book. Doesn’t. Get. Written.
Successful writers write.
Jan Thompson
I know what you mean. The other day, I blogged about my own sabbatical from writing. But we can’t look back. God puts our eyes on the front side of our heads for a reason. We have to look forward. A future of hope.
I like what you said: “Successful writers write.”
Mary Keeley
Elissa, I hope you are encouraged today to schedule a little time each day to write something and grow in consistency. Journaling is a great way to start because you usually get the emotional responses into your writing.
Elissa
Mary, thank you for your encouragement. I didn’t mean to sound so down. I’ve always kept a journal, and I’ve gotten back into working regularly on my novel.
I just wanted to make it clear that anyone who truly wants to be a writer MUST find a way to fit writing into their life. Many of those commenting have mentioned they feel called by God. I’m sure they’re right about their calling, but one should never forget it is the writer’s job to set a schedule that allows them to write, not God’s.
Martha Ramirez
These are great tips. Thank you, Mary! Wow regarding the author who gets up at 1 am and writes three to four hours. I would love to do that!
Jill Kemerer
You’re funny, because I was thinking–there’s no way my groggy body would ever get out of my cozy bed!! 🙂
Jenni Brummett
A research trip to the Florida Keys is fast approaching for me next month. I’m trying to break down, scene by scene, what environments I need to immerse myself in so I can absorb all of the smells, sounds and emotions of the setting for my story. It would help my story if I could reenact a shipwreck, hurricane, and possible drowning in a cistern, but I know my family would like to have me back on the west coast in once piece. I’m so thankful that I have the opportunity to go.
Mary Keeley
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy your research trip, Jenni. The details you take in and record will enrich your book.
Leslie Montgomery
I’ve kept a journal since I was eight years old. My mother says I was born with a pen in my hand and grew up writing on everything I came across – literally. Still, I have boxes of journals and writing I’ll “some day” get to look through. As an single, empty-nester, I wrote my first nine books whenever I wanted; I’ve never really struggled with the elusive “writer’s block” I’ve heard others talk about. I just always made sure I spent a couple of hours praising the Lord and reading the Bible before I wrote and committed everything I did to Him. Then I got married and started over with another family. Now, A.B. (After Babies) it’s a lot more challenging to find the silence I so desperately need to write. Paying a babysitter ten dollars an hour adds up. So,I get up between midnight and one and read the Bible and pray until around four, write until six, go lay down with the kids and wake up with them at 8:30. Thankfully, they still take naps so I do too and they usually last a couple of hours. Some nights my husband watches the kids so I can go to bed early (7’ish). I’ve got to tell you though, by Thursday/Friday, there’s not enough Starbucks in the universe to keep this girl awake – so sometimes I’ll skip a day to catch up, and Sunday’s I don’t write because it’s the Sabbath. Do you all know enough about me now? LOL.
Mary Keeley
Wow, Leslie. You put the exclamation point after “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!” I hope this schedule works for you and your family until the children are in school, when you’re able to settle into a more normal normal.
Beth MacKinney
I home school, so when other moms had free time during the day. I’ve had to write at night when it’s quiet and I can concentrate, even though I’m usually tired then. I use the morning when I’m fresh for brainstorming and write down ideas to use later at the computer.
Mary Keeley
Beth, that’s a good plan for accommodating your best hours to your writing.
colleen laquay urbaniuk
my problem is this. i spend so much more time reading about writing than i do on actually writing. reading blogs, reading books, reading websites. reading, researching, reading some more. and so little writing.
Michelle Lim
Thanks for the reminder, Mary! And Kudos to the 1AM BRAVE SOUL!!! I don’t think I could do that, but I am working on finding a new rhythm for this year that is more effective. I appreciate the ideas.
Sue Harrison
Mary, I’m late in chiming in on this great post, but I just had to say that one of the most important assets to my writing career has been Caller ID on my telephone. We’ve only recently been able to get Caller ID where we live, but it’s a lifesaver!
We take care of our 3 elderly parents. I’ve been able to schedule my writing time five days a week, about 3 hours per day, after doing the morning caregiving my father-in-law needs. Most of my other parent care work falls on weekends and at the end of the day when I need to supply meals.
Before we had Caller ID, I had to answer every phone call just in case one of the parents needed help. Now I look at the screen, smile and ignore other calls. (Except agent calls!) Whoever invented Caller ID is near the top of my favorite people list!!
Jenny Guiton
My writing is like my time with God or my Bible. It never happens on a regular schedule or any sort of schedule I try to create. I know I should be doing these things every day, but I’ve learned to stop trying to be perfect, do it when I can and don’t beat myself up about it. I wrote one book that way. I hope to write another. And I’m counting down the years until my kids are all out of the house and I get some of my time back, even though the last 18 years of time with them is my material for writing.
Lyn
My editor has been screaming for the final version of my MS for almost a year now. I’m frustrated because I haven’t been able to get it to her. I’d love a week of uninterrupted writing/editing time. The year-long delay began with surgery on my left wrist (De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis)which put me in a “do not touch the computer” mode for 8 weeks, then a wonderful dose of asthma, next came a fall down the front steps (damaged tendon in right hand), pneumonia and partially collapsed lung (almost a month in bed), and then, to top everything off, I tipped a mug of freshly made black tea on my stomach which necessitated blisters being drained and dressings being changed every other day for three weeks. I wonder what else I can come up with by way of getting out of that final edit? ~sigh~ I just want a week away on my own, preferably on a desert island encased in a bubble with a self-maintaining robot who is a three-hatted chef, housekeeper and can sing me to sleep at night. Is that really too much to ask?
Faustino
Fantastic post but I was wondering if you could write a litte
more on this topic? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further. Cheers!
Angel Archibald
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