Okay, for all those people wondering out there what life is like for a writer I thought I’d dish the dirt. First, let me declare in my holier-than-thou voice, I’m a mother of four children...hear me roar! Now, I love my children in the ‘I would lay down my life for them in a heartbeat,’ but I will admit writing from home with children makes for challenges. Three of my four are in school but when one gets sick, bang...writing is slow and sometimes not even a thought. And, when I’m pressed to make a deadline I get a little crazy. My youngest is in daycare three days a week and I am doing a major happy dance come September 2009 when she starts school. What that means currently is that I tend to write my butt off during those three days, but add in the freaking snow storms which have cancelled school quite a bit and well you get the picture.
I always set weekly goals. Five pages a day and usually make it. That doesn’t mean all my writing gets done in the day, more than twice a week I sneak out to the local Starbucks, where I can plug in my computer, to pound out my story.
So, life as a writer is juggling. I normally sit at my dining room table and start typing around 9am those blessed three mornings a week. If my house is a complete mess, which it often is, I pack up my lap top and after three morning drop offs, I head to Starbucks...I don’t care about their mess, the noise or the people...my goal is letting the voices that are talking in my head morph onto paper. Lately, I’m feeling pulled because I’m working on two stories and some weeks the character for one is stronger than the other and I have to devote my attention to that story for more than I had planned. I’m not complaining I’m just trying to focus.
Ahh, focus. Live in the NOW! I strongly believe in breathing but I also believe in reaching for the light at the end of the tunnel. I set goals and feel a sense of accomplishment when I reach them. Sometimes, they’re not big goals, but don’t forget I’m always juggling and that I live half my life in my van. So, this weeks goal is 5,000 words on my dragon story, 2,000 words on the YA story (because Gemini is starting to scream in my head again), clean the downstairs bookshelf (ugh) and remember to breathe!
Curious? Anyone else out there writing, juggling a family and life. I’d love to hear from you. We, writers, get lonely. Drop me a line.