Make It Work
I dream quite often, of a time, of a place in my life when everything around me will be still enough for me to sit and write, uninterrupted, for six daylight hours every day. This is a fantasy, a dream, a wisp of writersmoke that will of course, never happen in my life because I have three kids spaced apart in such a way that means I’ll pretty much always be running one of them around at any given time - because it’s my job.
Over the weekend I prepared to be gone for all of next week for RT. I’m the mom which means only I know the location of things important for day to day life. Only mom knows where that favorite shirt is, the names of not just teachers but other important adults, the times of various events, which things are verboten and which are mandatory. It takes longer for me to prepare to go away than to actuall be gone. So when I had envisioned the weekend to be one of oodles of writing, I knew I was fooling myself.
Still, I got my words by staying up late to finish them and doing extra on Friday because I knew this weekend would be insane.
Because no one but me knows where the right words are either. And so while I’m the mom in the family, the person who organizes and runs around, I’m the mom of my own writing too, and while my parents can help out around my husband’s schedule to make sure my kids get where they need to be, no one but me can finish my book on time.
So I’m doing it. I plan for it in the schedule just like anything else and while I love to think I’ll be uber productive, I know I probably won’t be at certain times so I just build all that into the schedule too. That way if I’m early, I can work on something else but if not, I have the time I need to get my work done.
Writing is a wonderful thing. I am fortunate to be able to make it a reality in my life. But it’s my job - like being a mom, like being someone’s partner, like the other things I have in my life - and so I plan for it accordingly. Yep, it’s totally anal retentive of me and other people certainly have different approaches that work for them.
Make it work folks, cause no one else can do it for you, but you.
Have a great writing week!!
April 7th, 2008 at 8:17 am
It’s not anal retentive. I have to plan for it as well, especially with little kids under foot.
My DH is awesome giving me as much time as I need as I’m still trying to get my feet off the ground. One day I hope to leave my Evil Day Job and do the writing full time. Till then, I plan.
April 7th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Thank you so much for that, Lauren.
I’m a mother of three, too. Planning is mandatory.