Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Tue, Feb 23 2010
Sharpening the axe
It takes a lot of discipline to focus on writing when things in your own life crowd in and try to take up your brain's processes. I suppose it's a bit like trying to sharpen an axe while having birds swoop down and peck at your head. If sharpening the axe was something you only did once every few months you could just pick another time for that task. But if you sharpen axes on a daily basis you're going to have to find a way to keep those birds at bay so you can get some work done.
Physically removing yourself from a life situation isn't always practical, but whenever it's possible I do recommend it, at least as a temporary measure. Let your phone take messages and find someone reliable to watch over your family for an afternoon. If it isn't possible to get away you can find small ways to get your head back in your story. People might feel free to interrupt you while you're sitting and staring out the window, but they might be more reticent to interrupt while you're vacuuming or mowing the lawn. Get some thoughts lined up and then grab an extra shower where you can think alone for a few minutes. Or, mentally take one of your story's characters with you while you do some shopping.
If the life situation is a true crisis that won't wait you should probably deal with it the way any working adult would have to if they were at a job and got called away on an emergency. The danger comes in assuming that your job as a fiction writer is more dispensable than that of a bus driver or tax accountant. It's part of your job to help educate other people to treat your writing time seriously. I know. I don't like it either, but it's true most of the time.
posted at: 14:47 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
It takes a lot of discipline to focus on writing when things in your own life crowd in and try to take up your brain's processes. I suppose it's a bit like trying to sharpen an axe while having birds swoop down and peck at your head. If sharpening the axe was something you only did once every few months you could just pick another time for that task. But if you sharpen axes on a daily basis you're going to have to find a way to keep those birds at bay so you can get some work done.
Physically removing yourself from a life situation isn't always practical, but whenever it's possible I do recommend it, at least as a temporary measure. Let your phone take messages and find someone reliable to watch over your family for an afternoon. If it isn't possible to get away you can find small ways to get your head back in your story. People might feel free to interrupt you while you're sitting and staring out the window, but they might be more reticent to interrupt while you're vacuuming or mowing the lawn. Get some thoughts lined up and then grab an extra shower where you can think alone for a few minutes. Or, mentally take one of your story's characters with you while you do some shopping.
If the life situation is a true crisis that won't wait you should probably deal with it the way any working adult would have to if they were at a job and got called away on an emergency. The danger comes in assuming that your job as a fiction writer is more dispensable than that of a bus driver or tax accountant. It's part of your job to help educate other people to treat your writing time seriously. I know. I don't like it either, but it's true most of the time.
posted at: 14:47 | category: /Writing Life | link to this entry
