Stop With the Brilliant Ideas, Already

I had this great idea for an article about five minutes ago. An interesting, research-heavy piece about a topic that’s getting a lot of attention lately. I even know the magazine I would pitch. I’m sure they would love it, and they pay pretty well, too.

Then, in a rare moment of clarity, I realized I need to stop having great ideas, and start producing some finished product. Cheese and crackers. If you’ve browsed my site at all you know I’m working part time as a freelance writer, trying to finish my novel, slowly chipping away at a guide book about northern California, waiting to hear from my agent about my non-fiction book proposal, blogging and oh, yeah, raising two kids. Vishnu, with her many arms, would have trouble juggling all that.

To date, I’ve managed my life on a squeaky wheel system. Kids first (they are, after all, pretty loud), paid work second, and everything else when I have time for it. If my agent actually sells my proposal I’m going to have to seriously reassess my time management/get a full time nanny.

So I’m shelving the brilliant article, filing it away for future reference, and instead, pulling out my notes on the novel – trying to write a little more tonight before I fall asleep, or the baby starts crying.

When Good Enough Is

I‘ve never been one to settle. When it comes to my writing, good enough never is. Every word is chosen with great intention. But you know where good enough really is? When you’re doing chores.

I cleaned the house this morning in half the time it usually takes me by lowering my standards significantly. And guess what. The house looks great. No one will ever notice all the little corners I cut because it really doesn’t make a lick of difference. Lesson learned.

Now I’m going to stop blogging and make use of these few hours I just earned myself. Tah.

The Balancing Act Continues

I considered writing out my to-do list as this week’s post. Ultimately I decided against it, because really – how boring would that be?

In a few weeks I move in to the Skidmore dorms for their Summer Writing Retreat, and I am so excited. Sure, getting ready to check out of my life for two weeks is partly what has my to-do list growing like a colony of bacteria on nutrient-rich agar, but once I’m there – it’s all about my fiction.

Just me and Talulah. Ahhhh….

Right now I feel like a neglectful parent. I only wrote six pages last week, and the worst part is, I know exactly what I want to be writing, I just can’t seem to find the time to get it down. In order to get the non-fiction proposal ready to go out I’ve been prioritizing that work to the top of my list, and Talulah keeps getting bumped. I wish I could tell her to hang in there. “I’m not abandoning you, I swear.”

Anyhow, I’m keeping the post short and sweet today. I’ve got s**t to do….

ps – I know the photo for this post has nothing to do with its content, but I’m feeling stressed and it always makes me giggle, so I thought I’d share.