Time to Write

With everything going on in my life these days, there has been one aspect that has fallen by the wayside. WRITING. Other than blog posts, I haven’t written a word since Mom’s surgery a month ago. I’ve been feeling the ache from deep in my psyche for the last week or so, but I just haven’t managed to steal any time to do anything about it.

Then Victoria Thompson, who is guest blogging today over at Working Stiffs (I’ll be there on Wednesday), hit on this very subject.

Time to write.

It’s a topic that comes up anytime a group of writers get together. Especially aspiring writers. When you have a contract and a deadline looming, you MAKE the time to write. Time is money, as they say. But for those who WANT to write, but haven’t figured out a way to make that happen yet, it can be daunting to squeeze out a few more hours in the day.

I’m fortunate to have a supportive husband. I’m also fortunate that my “day job” takes place in the evening and only TWO evenings a week at that. But there has always been other distractions in my life. I wrote two and a half novels while dealing with my dad’s declining health and eventually his death. Then I suddenly had my time back. I was able to write six hours a day, although I generally spent the morning writing and the afternoon working on the “business” aspect of the profession. Still, it was glorious.

Now, I’m spending my former writing time with my mom. And somehow, I’ve lost track of several other hours each day. Where did they go? Why can’t I get anything done?

Answer: I’m not trying hard enough.

Finding, making, stealing time, whichever it is, is hard work. But I’m beginning to realize I have to do it. With the set-backs we’ve experienced in my mom’s recovery, I now know that she isn’t going to be home as soon as I had hoped. So I must regroup and reorganize my schedule to find an hour here and an hour there. And then steadfastly protect my allotted writing time as if it were a precious and fragile thing. Because it is.

I’ve done this before. I can do it again. I just got spoiled by being a “full time writer.” I will get back to that after Mom is fully recovered. In the meantime, I can’t put my writing on hold any longer. As Victoria says over at Working Stiffs today, I will begin to shrivel and die without my work.

And of course it helps to have friends who are MAKING IT in the publishing world. Friday, I spent some time with my Sisters in Crime and other writing friends at a pub party for my friend, Rebecca Drake whose newest thriller The Next Killing is available now. Here’s a picture of some of my fellow Sisters in Crime including Rebecca at Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont PA.