Sometimes being an author is like riding a roller coaster. Thrills, chills, climbs, drops, and that horrible line you have to wait in to even get on the ride.
Lately, I seem to be waiting in line. Just six months ago, I was moaning about not having time to write...then one of my boys went to kindergarten and the other to preschool a couple of days a week. Silly me. I thought I would have hours of writing in the mornings and then snatching a bit of time to write or exercise in the afternoons. Well, what I didn't count on was that because they were getting older, they no longer need that nap in the afternoons! Did you hear the screech as my happy-go-lucky soundtrack came to a halt? Yep. I'm lucky to squeeze in four hours of writing a week where I used to enjoy six to eight. Plus, now that they don't sleep in the afternoons, I'm dead tired by the time they go to bed...so I spend my evenings in a foggy haze wishing I, too, could go to bed.
The only plus is that by this time next year, BOTH boys will be in kindergarten (one will be repeating) and I will have 4.5 hours A DAY without anyone here but me, the cat, and the dog (for whom I am his personal slave, don'cha know?). So, I feel like I'm just "waiting" in line for my time to come..
I am, however, able to do other things. I'm able to read a bit more (it's easier to put someone else's story down in the middle of an action scene). I can also edit (not my own work, but other's) while the TV is blaring and kids are shouting.
I envy women who can write a sentence or two between letting the dog out, getting snacks for the kids, making dinner, and...and...and... me, I have to have silence so that I can hear the voices in my head.
What about you? Can you write in bedlam? Or do you need peace and quiet? How do you write with kids underfoot? I know, I could just wait. But the anticipation of having time to write is killing me....
Have any ideas for me? Good time management tips? Anything???
Thanks!
Ericka
Oh, you are not alone! I can't write with all the noise and distractions going on. And my son--he's just 3--appears to have given up his nap, too. ACK!
ReplyDeleteYep. You're not alone.
ReplyDeleteI can't write if both my daughter and hubby are home. I just get too distracted. I can write if my daughter's home but only during limited amounts of time because she keeps interrupting. So, when she's home and I just gotta do something writing-related, I make sure I assign revisions for myself.
I remember nap times. When they disappeared it was virtually impossible to get anything done. But school. Ah, school. *sigh*