It happens to all of us. One minute we’re hunched over our keyboards, furiously typing away with an energy that could power New York City for a week. The next minute, real life sneaks up and hits us upside the head with a proverbial baseball bat. Everything drops, everything gets put on hold to deal with one issue that becomes two issues that becomes too many issues to count.
At first, it’s just a holiday. We’re expected at the parents’ house for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Or, gods forefend, the family comes to our place and we are expected to act as perfect hosts, relegating our writing to that “when no one is around” time. Sometimes the issue is emotional. Depression affects more writers than you may think. A death of a friend or family member can knock us for a loop, even if we didn’t know the person well. Piling bills (and persistent bill collectors) can add to the emotional overload, especially for those writers without an additional day jobs to supplement those rare royalty checks. Then we have the physical issues. The yearly flu, colds, allergies, and heaven forbid we come down with something more serious like cancer or problems that require surgery to resolve.
Recently, I hit the triple whammy. My day job conspired with physical problems and that wonderful “here comes tax season and all the yearly bills” time frame to put me in a bind. Not only did I not have time to write due to work-related emergencies, but hand cramps actually removed my ability to use a keyboard for several days, and the emotional toll of financial burdens made me not want to do anything but hide in a closet. Not that I was able to. Work required my presence for double-shifts. What can I say? I work in I.T.
I don’t normally post personal stuff because this is my SQL and Writing blog. But I’m posting it today, the day after the Easter holiday, to make a point. Real life does, and always will, interfere with writing. While authors get the perk of actually living in a fantasy world for a good portion of our lives, real life is just waiting around the corner to ambush us, bring us out of our self-imposed delusions, and inform us that we have to Deal With Stuff.
So, how can authors DWS while writing? If an author is serious about being a published writer, then she finds the time wherever she can.
Sometimes, it’s all about the little moments. Five minutes here, five minutes there. Writing on my lunch break, or taking notes in the moments between work meetings. I walk on my breaks, working through story ideas (or problems) in my head while I’m moving. I carry a notebook or my laptop everywhere, taking notes as something interesting strikes my fancy. During road trips, I have my navigator write down notes or call my house so he can leave notes on my answering machine for me. At holiday get-togethers, I excuse myself for ten or fifteen minutes to get something finished. Everyone knows I’m a writer. They allow me a little space to do my thing, understanding that if they leave me alone for that time, they’ll have my undivided attention for the rest of the night.
And sometimes, you just have to bite the bullet, accept that you’ll be working 17+ hour shifts for a week, sleeping the rest of the time, and you just will not have time to write no matter how hard you try. You get the job done, make sure Real Life is Dealt With, take a quick breather, then jump back into the writing pool again. The key to writing in the face of real life is to recognize when you can steal the moments you need to write, and when you just have to suck it up and soldier on until those moments appear. It happens. Real Life sucks sometimes.
But if you let it derail you, if you let the temporary stoppage linger on longer than it has to, then you’re letting yourself and your writing career down. So, if you’re experiencing a Real Life sucks moment, just remember you’re not alone. All authors go through this. And all authors can get through it, one moment and one word at a time.
One Response
What a great post. I’ve had to cut back severely on writing time due to a ridiculous amount of homework being handed out in the last two weeks and my own wrist being in crippling amounts of pain, so I totally understand.
I hope real life is nice to you for a little while.
Happy writing,
~Dianna