Writing Wrongs

June 02, 2004

It�s amazing what a little time can do. If you�ve spent any time around writers, you�ve heard variations on the theme: Writers write.

It doesn�t matter if you work 80 hours a week, have five kids, help run a home-based business, and commute two hours a day, if you really want to write, you�ll find time.

Admittedly, some people do. Some people don�t need that much sleep and write from ten at night until two in the morning.

Then there�s the rest of us.

I�m a morning person. Just ask my husband. My happy morning moods drive him nuts. After six in the evening, my brain turns off, or at least the part of it I use for writing. I was excited when my hours were cut at work, after the initial shock of it and abject panic about surviving financially, that is.

My hours weren�t cut that badly. We�re surviving. And my writing? Most days, I come home from work and I�m able to dedicate two to three hours to it.

And it does make a difference. Time does matter. I always felt like I was scraping by, scraping out five minutes here, waking up early to get a half an hour there, but never making any real progress. Sure, I managed to write three books while doing this, but never felt I was going fast enough. I know, it�s not a contest, but when I write or even edit, I have this urge pushing me to reach the end. If I can just reach the end, everything will be all right.

Having a significant amount of time does wonders. For my sanity if nothing else.

Writing Progress: Halfway through the revision of Cold Comfort. I like the modified �one-pass� revision process I�m doing. I revise a section of ~50 pages, type in the changes, and then reprint the section. I let it sit overnight and do another edit the next day.

What I�m reading: I can�t. Somewhere in our house is a hidden sippy cup full of milk. I don�t know where it is, but while I sit and try to read, I hear it curdling. Way too distracting.

Charity Tahmaseb wrote at 10:38 a.m.

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