Dilemmas plague artists and writers. When to work. Where to work. How to work the work into busy schedules. There's just no end of things to keep us from doing what we both want and don't want to do most.
I thought I'd bring up a few of the most problematic issues over the next several weeks, get a little feedback on how you deal with yours, and let you know the various ways I resolve my own. I have to incorporate several tricks since surprising myself with something new is often effective.
I love living life to the fullest; that is, actively participating as much as possible in whatever is going on. I also love to write about life, which is an often solitary and sedentary activity. This would be what I would call a major dilemma; one not easily resolved. Writing every day is the goal. How can I accomplish this goal and still be the extroverted mesomorph I long to be?
There's a long answer and a short answer to this problem. We'll stick with the short answer because, actually, this basic problem covers the whole series. The main answer for me, on any given day, is write first. So what if it will be 107 degrees later in the day and the only time to garden is 7 am. Then I must get up at 5 am and write first if I want to go to the garden.
If it's snowing and what I really want to do is build up the fire, stick in a movie and lay on the sofa and watch it snow, I have to write first. If this means I can't get out of bed until I've written, then allow me to claim my place in a long line of famous reclining writers including Mark Twain, Truman Capote, and poet William Stafford who wrote reclining on a sofa at 4:30 am. Prop up the pillows, protect the comforter from the coffee and ink, and begin.
If company is coming and you haven't cleaned the house, remember that candles and party lights can hide a multitude of dust bunnies and other dirt. Perfection in homemaking is highly overrated. (Leigh is fainting as she reads this). And remember, Mrs. Smith makes a darn good berry cobbler. Just dump a little vanilla ice cream on top. Because, no matter if Michelle Obama is coming for dinner, you have to write first.
So you put something really clever on face book and you need to see who responded; how many likes you got? You know you have a ton of unanswered email and if you don't do it now, you'll have even more in an hour. Don't touch that internet interloper until you have written first. You'll be sorry. In fact, your mind may even trick you into believing that it counts as writing. It doesn't. Write first.
So there's my simple and only answer to the number one dilemma--when will I fit it in? Always, always write first. And so should you.
3 comments:
Oh, yes, but what to do when life is so sunny and rambunctious it knocks you over with its happy puppy paws, licks your face, and drops its yellow squeaky ball at your feet? Do you play in the here and now, filling your soul with vignettes that send you running to the pencil immediately upon arriving home, or do you say "Later" to life, sit down in the quiet, and write about yesterday or a someday that may never be? Mendy, I wish my inner guide was as constant. I wish sometimes that "write first" were my mantra. I'd have more pages, that's for sure, but fewer memories, too...
It's the good ol' fashioned "toosh in chair" (or sofa) method. Tried and true. It's simple but it works. And sometimes I also set word count goals for myself, just to make sure I don't do ANYTHING else until the writing has happened, as you said - first.
~ks
Do not despair my writing comrades. We will go into the life vs writing more in future posts. I understand this dilemma all too well. Right now, I suggest you get up before it is light out and there's not too much to do at that time anyway. Have faith that we will have all the memories we need by the end of our lives!
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