So, What do You Write?

Photo: Luis Llerena via Unsplash.com

When I first started writing, I wrote nonfiction. Exclusively. I worked on one article at a time and never had to worry about getting characters or story lines confused.

When I began trying my hand at fiction, it was as part of a writing class. I worked on one piece at a time, and the stories were short. I had a job and a small child, and I wrote in small snippets of time during which it was easy to keep one story straight, whether it was fiction, non-fiction or an essay.

Novels came later, and since I still had the job and the child, I continued to work in snippets of time. Though I spent most of my writing time working on my novel-in-progress, I found time to work on articles over the summer, and even occasionally during the school year. Somewhere along the way, I picked up blogging, and started working that in, too.

When I retired, one of my goals was to blog on a regular basis. Four years later, I have a weekly schedule I stick to, writing five to six blogs each week and posting Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in three different locations.

That's when it got complicated.

Some days, I blog ahead of time so that my posts are all ready to go on their assigned days. Other days, I'm still figuring out what I want to write about early -- or even later -- in the day, and the blogs hang over my head until I write and post them. Once they're finished, I have time for discretionary writing.

When that time rolls around, I sometimes have trouble figuring out what I want to write. Right now, for example, I'm working on new story for one novel, revisions on a second and the occasional non-fiction article for one of the online or print publications that regularly accepts my work. Some days, one project is foremost in my mind, so that's where I put my energies. Other days, they jockey for position or, worse yet, refuse to be prodded into submission like so many unruly teenagers.

I told the barista -- a fellow writer --
that I was going to work
on revisions. 

Eventually, as most parents/supervisors do, I manage to coerce one of them into cooperation and actually make
progress. Sometimes, I need to leave home to do this.

Most writers I know work on multiple projects -- some simultaneously, others sequentially. Tomorrow, you'll meet my friend Rachel, who's primarily a novelist, but has also just put together an adult coloring book that fits with the theme of her soon-to-be-released novel. A talented illustrator, Rachel divides her time among a number of writing and illustrating projects -- and several pseudonyms as well. I don't know how she does it all. (Maybe she'll tell us tomorrow).

So, when you ask a writer what she writes, don't be surprised if the answer is "a little bit of everything." Unless she's famous, chances are good that she divvies her available time up among a number of projects, perhaps feeling as though she never really has enough time for any of them. Who knows? Maybe famous writers do this, too.

Perhaps some day I'll find out.

'Tis the Season to be Sprinting

One of the things I was most looking forward to during my break between semesters was getting back into the writing sprint habit I established last spring and summer. An hour a day doesn't sound like much, but when class responsibilities began to accumulate, that hour fell away. Eventually, so did other things (like clutter control) and I was looking forward to slowly regaining control of both my schedule and my surroundings over break.

Accordingly, I began trying to fit some sprints in the week before Christmas. I knew I wouldn't be able to restore my daily habit while preparing for the holidays, but every bit of writing that I did served as a warm-up for the regularly scheduled sprints that would follow after the holidays.

Over the weekend, despite holiday travels, I managed to squeeze in some slightly unconventional sessions (editing in the car, and finishing the hour after everyone else had gone to bed), and finally, last evening, I was ready to begin the daily commitment.

It was only then that I realized that the "sprint" is more aptly named than I realized. Like a runner approaching a track event after a long, cold winter, I couldn't simply dash back into the event and expect it to flow as it had before.

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This stuff is hard. Especially when you're out of practice. And while the warm-ups I'd been doing in the form of blogs, stolen writing time and sporadic sprints had kept my fingers on the keys, they hadn't required the butt-in-chair commitment or the brain-in-gear commitment that an hour long sprint requires if it's to be successful. Like an athlete at her first practice after a long, laid back off-season, I kept glancing at the clock, my brain "muscles" tired and frustrated long before the workout was over.

I've done this before, so I know it will get easier. And at no time have I stopped writing completely, so I know that muscle memory, if you will, will take over at some point. Even when I was sprinting regularly, I had days where an hour felt like two and I had to push through, unsure of the quality of the work I was producing.

But that's (also) part of the beauty of the writing sprint. Even an hour that produces only work that cries out for substantial editing is unlikely to get me so far afield that I can't return to the starting line and make some sense of the event. And, since it's once again (finally!) sprint season, I know I'll have plenty of opportunities to improve my personal best.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some stretching to do.