By Keith N Fisher
Each day I work, sleep, and write a little. Some days, I write a lot, but not without paying a toll. I work at night so when I sleep, I feel guilty about being lazy. There is so much daylight out there that I’m wasting. I wake after two hours, force myself to go back to sleep, and never get enough.
When I write, I think of all the yard work, home repairs, and honey-do’s I’m neglecting. It feels great when I’m in the zone and writing, but what about my lawn?
Currently, The Hillside is at the publisher, waiting for a decision. The sequel is written and I’m going through the edits. Eternal Tapestries, My Brother’s Keeper, and The Trophy are all in the do-over stage. I’m writing the last chapters of Star Crossed, and I’m working on my cookbook.
The Latter has been a daunting task for me. Cooking is easy and I have dozen’s of recipes, both written, and in my head. The problem is formatting. As the director of many cooking competitions I’m no stranger to compiling recipe books, but a cookbook should be different. It’s hard, but I’m making progress.
In the midst of all of this, I wrote an outline for a national market book that’s been floating in my head. I wish I could write full time, but then again . . .
Have you seen the movie, 2012? In it there’s a scene when a man, (an author), takes his children camping in Yellowstone and there are strange things going on. The scene starts when its night, the children are going to bed and he’s on the Internet trying to figure it out. The daughter says, “Dad, you said you wouldn’t work on your book.”
He puts his laptop aside and says, “I’m not, I’m doing something else.”
That says it all. As writers we take our work with us, everywhere. My daughter said something similar to me once. She didn’t want to compete for my time while camping. So, now, I hide my laptop and get up at three a.m. so I can write and still give my time to her. Of course, now, she’s a teenager and doesn’t get out of bed before noon, so maybe I should sleep in.
Yes, as the title of this post says, writing can be a mysterious. What drives a person to finish one book while writing and drafting others? What keeps us going in the face of rejection? I don’t know but after all this time, I can’t not, write. It has become a part of who I am. Writing is life’s blood if you will.
So, I wake up after two hours of sleep, write the scene I’ve been thinking about, and try catch brief moments of slumber while feeling guilty about letting my garden go to weeds.
Good luck with your writing—see you next week.
Each day I work, sleep, and write a little. Some days, I write a lot, but not without paying a toll. I work at night so when I sleep, I feel guilty about being lazy. There is so much daylight out there that I’m wasting. I wake after two hours, force myself to go back to sleep, and never get enough.
When I write, I think of all the yard work, home repairs, and honey-do’s I’m neglecting. It feels great when I’m in the zone and writing, but what about my lawn?
Currently, The Hillside is at the publisher, waiting for a decision. The sequel is written and I’m going through the edits. Eternal Tapestries, My Brother’s Keeper, and The Trophy are all in the do-over stage. I’m writing the last chapters of Star Crossed, and I’m working on my cookbook.
The Latter has been a daunting task for me. Cooking is easy and I have dozen’s of recipes, both written, and in my head. The problem is formatting. As the director of many cooking competitions I’m no stranger to compiling recipe books, but a cookbook should be different. It’s hard, but I’m making progress.
In the midst of all of this, I wrote an outline for a national market book that’s been floating in my head. I wish I could write full time, but then again . . .
Have you seen the movie, 2012? In it there’s a scene when a man, (an author), takes his children camping in Yellowstone and there are strange things going on. The scene starts when its night, the children are going to bed and he’s on the Internet trying to figure it out. The daughter says, “Dad, you said you wouldn’t work on your book.”
He puts his laptop aside and says, “I’m not, I’m doing something else.”
That says it all. As writers we take our work with us, everywhere. My daughter said something similar to me once. She didn’t want to compete for my time while camping. So, now, I hide my laptop and get up at three a.m. so I can write and still give my time to her. Of course, now, she’s a teenager and doesn’t get out of bed before noon, so maybe I should sleep in.
Yes, as the title of this post says, writing can be a mysterious. What drives a person to finish one book while writing and drafting others? What keeps us going in the face of rejection? I don’t know but after all this time, I can’t not, write. It has become a part of who I am. Writing is life’s blood if you will.
So, I wake up after two hours of sleep, write the scene I’ve been thinking about, and try catch brief moments of slumber while feeling guilty about letting my garden go to weeds.
Good luck with your writing—see you next week.
3 comments:
The cookbook sounds wonderful. Is it dutch oven or a combination of recipes?
I stumbled upon your blog, and as a work-at-home designer, I totally know that feeling. I'm going to pass on to you a piece of advice that a good friend told me: "At the end of the day, there will be no points given for sucking it in". So it's noon and you're exhausted? Sleep. And enjoy it.
I've made a vow in recent months not to spend my sleep time working on my writing. It's not good for my health. Getting more sleep has left me feeling better and with more energy so I get more done during the hours I do have.
I know what you mean about the guilt. If you have to skip something, skip the house work.
Post a Comment