Those Times When I Can Write

It's difficult finding time to write when you're an adult. When I'm working at the library 17 hours a week, teaching 5 1/2 hours a week plus prep, practicing piano a minimum of 45 minutes a day, trying to exercise a minimum of 30 minutes 3 times a week, recording an audio book of Creighton Hill, keeping the basement clean, doing dishes and cooking when it's my turn, leading Bible study once a month, keeping up with my blog, occasionally feeding my imagination with good books, trying not to lose touch with all my friends...it gets really hard to find time to write. And it's harder when writing doesn't always come easy.

I've made it no secret over the past several years that writing has been a struggle for me. I'm glad to say that the last couple of times I've sat down to write have been better. I'm rediscovering the way words work. (Can you believe I'd forgotten? I don't think having my primary story intake be in a visual medium was helpful.) It's slow progress, but my imagination is gradually waking back up. I'm inching back towards writing stories again. I'm inching back towards being able to dream and imagine.

But unfortunately, the above-mentioned adult busyness makes it very difficult to find time to devote to writing. I don't think my boss would be happy if I called in to tell him I wasn't coming to work because I have a chapter that needs writing. I don't think my students or their parents would be happy if they showed up for lessons and I was immersed in writing and refused to stop. No one in my family would be happy if there was no dinner because I was writing instead.

It's a difficult balancing act, especially when writing isn't my top priority. Unfortunately, the things that pay and keep the house going tend to be more important. But I can still find time here and there. Once I get the casserole in the oven, sometimes I sit down at the kitchen table and write. If I manage to get my other at-home work done early, I can squeeze in some writing time. It's not much, it's slow going, I'm not sure the end of June is a realistic deadline for draft 1, and I'm not even 100% sure where I'm going with this book, but I love it anyway.

I love that it's a low pressure project. I'm taking a break from my big projects (i.e. Espionage sequel and Cassie story) to have fun with a story. I don't have a purpose for writing it other than just to write a good story. The theme will come in time. I don't have a clue what the word count will be, what every plot point is, or if the midpoint will fall at the 50% mark, and that's okay. It's fluid, I just focus on what the next step is, it could be really great or really terrible, and it doesn't matter. Again, I'm not that far. I mostly just know the basic premise. But after all that I've been through writing-wise these last few years, I need a project like this. And if I find time to write between jobs and cooking and piano practice, it's going to be good for my imagination.