I named my Sunday morning ramble today. 🙂
This has been one of the best mornings I’ve had in a while. I awakened to a lazy, longer than usual lie-about with a ceiling fan whirring above my head and birds singing outside the windows.
The hubby, who owns a business that requires him to travel an hour to and from every single day–in addition to his regular work– didn’t book it out first thing this morning.
We spent some time together since the kiddos are old enough to sleep late on weekends.
We propped up our pajama-covered legs and shared conversation and coffee.
Both of us are bad about cramming our lives too full of responsibility and we often forget that those quiet mornings sharing memories and holding hands make all the difference in a relationship.
I can be excruciatingly honest when it comes to the good and bad of the writing life here on this blog. I believe it’s good to share what life is like from one writer’s perspective because you never know when you’ll help another writer out there come across an “a ha” moment. (And oh, I hope it’s faster than I did. )
Face it, we picked a somewhat lonely career. I’ve always felt that if a new writer can see that even us old hats still struggle at times, they’ll feel a little better about their current situation and know it will pass.
But, I don’t share a lot of private, personal life stuff here because it’s… well… private. <g> I will share that the hubby and I have had a really rough couple of years. Not with each other, but in other areas of our life. Things that have left deep bruises. So we realized we’ve been cramming our schedules in an effort to not think.
Yet, lately, we’ve noticed that we’re finding our life rhythm again. I’m finally getting a handle on the new job and this week, I was actually able to work on the problems that cropped up in my “thought it was finished” manuscript. Yes, I added more work that I’ll have to get into pretty fast since it’s already out and on one agent’s desk, but I feel good about it.
And I was able to catch up my critique work with Rachel.
I love my writing time and I love my critique time. Rachel and I have the strangest critiquing partnership. It can be rough and intense. We work really hard on each other’s work, worry we overdid it when we upload it, find we both can have our egos bruised a bit, then we inevitably realize the other had some good ideas and that the extra work makes the books stronger and better in the long run. It’s at times excruciating but then it grows into such energy and excitement, I’m fired up for the next round. Sounds tough, I know, but I’ve watched our stories improve by leaps and bounds, so it’s obviously working.
This morning, I shared with the hubby that we both need to cut some things from our schedule. I need solid time for writing and critiquing and he could use some free play time.
We also made a promise this morning to free up time for just us. (Yes, that is a pic of us.) We used to love going for drives through new places or hunting antiques at weekend estate sales. At one time, we did that every Sunday. This morning, we realized it had been over a year. Time flies, eh?
So, after he left for that long, daily hike, I sat with my cooling coffee and thought about the writing. I realized that one of the reasons my short story writing slowed was that I had been over-filling not only the schedule, but the noggin’. <g>
I’ve always been able to just lie on the floor with a notebook and feel short story ideas sparking from my fingertips. No matter what other projects I have going. I’ve always been able to grab onto a topic and dream up a great story for it. I’ve had a topic from Heather for months and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve started and stopped and started over on that sucker. It’s so out of character for me that I’ve been frustrated.
Figured out why.
What do writers need in order to produce? In order to “feel” that all is right in their worlds?
Time to dream.
Everyone needs food, air, water and sleep–but we have this whole other need for a different sort of sustenance. We have to feed our creative needs and then have an outlet for the results. Otherwise, the ideas and dreams overpopulate the brain and send everything crashing to a halt. Or we fill the brain with so many regular life difficulties, we don’t leave room for creative movement.
IDLE. TIME. IS. JUST. PLAIN. NECESSARY.
Without it, we aren’t creating. And without creating, a writer isn’t fulfilled. There is always this vague bit of something hovering around you–making the world feel a bit off.
And the only time to get that idle time is to make it. Cut something else out.
And while you’re at it, leave time for the things that make life good. A dinner with friends. A lazy afternoon with a book.
Or better yet, a pajama-clad morning with hot coffee and someone you love. 🙂