Don’t Be A Diva, Just Write

In January, Janet Fitch wrote a guest post titled Writing Tips For Parents. She said: “Forget unbroken stretches of time. If you have a few minutes to write, grab them.”

This is something I’m trying hard to embrace during these long days with my newborn. He’s nursing every two or two and a half hours, and it takes about forty minutes. That means that, best case scenario, I have an hour and fifty minutes between nursings. Usually it’s more like an hour.

After fighting the urge to do dishes or laundry or even shower, I eat a little and then sit down to write for as long as the battery powered swing will help the little angle sleep. This is not how I’m used to working, but I keep telling myself – Don’t Be a Diva, Just Write.

So I reread where I left off, and organize my thoughts, and write a few paragraphs before he starts stirring, ready to eat again.

This has necessitated extreme focus. The only thing harder than working in these short stints is trying to work on multiple projects at the same time with only snippets of time. My solution has been to decide each morning what I’m working on and (after an hour to answer emails and or blog) I don’t work on anything else for the duration of the day. Some days it’s freelance work/networking to find freelance work, other days it’s my nonfiction proposal, and the days I enjoy the most are the days I devote to my novel.

I’ve committed this weekend to my novel, and as a matter of fact, the little dude just fell asleep, so I’m going to wrap this up and get back to it. Fingers crossed for a full half hour!