Sunday, March 7, 2010

Time to Write

I am really busy lately. Blogging and reading blogs is difficult to fit in. I'm writing for me, looking for sources and setting up interviews for the paying gig, trying to be present with my husband (instead of peering at him over the top of our laptops all of the time), taking more time to play with my son (I'd rather he doesn't remember me as "Dell"), working my part-time copywriter job, marathon training, reading actual books and attempting to get the laundry done (I've pretty much given up on the rest of the house).

I started writing something on my lunch break on Thursday. It's memoirish. It's about playing sports and being a girl and gaining weight and running and family. This is not the first time I've written about this so I wouldn't consider this a new project. It's ongoing but nothing is in the same document. I think that's okay.

Meanwhile, I still have my children's book. I've been working on this in spurts. I'll write a bunch. Then I will take a few days and let it simmer. Then I'll write down something I thought of during that time.

I've also been thinking a lot about an article (here) I read on children's picture book writing: age groups. There's a difference between picture books for toddlers and picture books for kindergartners and up, etc. I knew this, but never really thought about it.

It's interesting how "thinking" is different for me when I'm working on these two writing projects. For the memoirish one, I just write and I sort of remember things as I go. I'm thinking and writing at the same time. For the picture book, I think then I write. Then I think some more. Wait. Write.

The picture book is definitely easier for me to fit into my lifestyle. But I am having a lot of fun with the memoir. It's just a matter of finding a chunk of time in my day that is not already filled. I am not a morning writer, so getting up earlier does not work for me (not that I sleep in). I'm really slow in the morning and I tend to take so long that I run out of time to write. And there's too much going on in the evenings. Besides, I already stay up too late for the early hours I rise during the week.

T Junior's nap time in the middle of the day is the best time. I just have to turn all the other media off. And it's only a couple times a week that I'm home for this. I guess it's better than nothing.

For a while, I was trying to schedule the writing in. But then I had an excuse to not do it when I had a moment (like during a nap). Instead, I was getting up at 4:30 a.m., but I was so slow and tired that by the time I was ready to write, I had about 20 minutes left till the baby was up. Then it felt forced. I felt pressure. Not good.

This post has already taken longer than it should, but I needed to get it out there. Blogging is a good warm up. If only I had more time!

3 comments:

  1. I love this blog and have to read it as soon as I see a new post. I think its awesome you have a paying gig. I applied to a magazine last week so we'll see what happens. I missed the deadline because I was moving but still sent it in anyways. Its all part of the experience.

    Tomorrows post is what I wrote for my creative writing class, a memoir, which is really just an event. If you get a minute, actually a lot of minutes, check it out. I find my writing boring with a couple good sentences here and there. I'd love your feedback.

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  2. Hey hey! I love that you've started this blog. I've been terrible at staying up to date with blogging lately but will do my best to check in.

    I can't wait to hear more about your adventures. I'm having a little bit of a crisis at the moment committing to my next project.... Hmmm.

    Hope all is well :)

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