My new credo: Think less. Write more.
I handed my in-progress essay to Becca (who is off the subject of suicide back to her lovable but snide pop-culture self) who gave me some good advice, as usual. And told me to freewrite it again. And again. I read her email and thought, “But what if .. and if .. and should I?” and realized I should simply shut up and put it aside until Wednesday evening when (god and children willing) I will have the evening to write. Or wrap presents. Darn holiday season.
Five bits of advice to myself on how not to go insane while trying to write with small children underfoot:
1. There will never be enough time. Get over it.
2. Quitchyer bitchin’. (See #1)
3. Trust that the ideas are marinating even when you won’t get to write for a day or two. Or more.
4. Use your writing time wisely (i.e., “Stop reading blogs and get back to work!”).
5. There will always be tomorrow. Or next week. Or … something.
Rats. Writing those didn’t prove to be the kick in the pants I needed. Madison is SHOVING my legs right now (I’m standing up to type, which is how I do these quick check-ins) and now she’s run off, which means she’s likely doing something deadly. I’ll make this short.
I have parenting-induced writer’s block, which just sucks because I don’t have REAL writer’s block(she’s back with the shoving). God this is so fucking hard.
I am so right there with you, Dawn. About every 3 to 6 months I have a complete panic attack over this. Parenting-induced writer’s block is the worst, and some days I feel like I’ve been stuck here for about 6 and a half years. But then again, see #1. There’s always something, and right now, this is our something. You’ll write, you will. How about Wednesday night, instead of wrapping presents?
Okay, you’re so much more prolific than I am, that I’m afraid to even compare myself to you. But the phrase ‘parenting-induced writer’s block’ is definitely one I’m going to steal.
Would it help to carry a hand held tape recorder so you can at least keep track of ideas while you’re chasing after Madison? My husband had a boss who did that- but I don’t know how much it helped him because he kept forgetting it everywhere.
Oh, Dawn, I hear you. My only solution is to carry a digital voice recorder ($30 and lighter than air) with me, so that when I do think of something to write/say, I can at least dictate notes into the recorder. But, um, well, I hate hearing my voice, so it doesn’t always happen, but the few times that it has, when I’ve FINALLY thought of a lede for an article or a perfect headline or a new slant on a blog post I’ve been considering, it totally pays for itself.
There’s a lot of love in parenting, but I’ve found that there’s a boatload of resentment that comes with it, too. And most of my resentment is centered on my not having the time or the money to write what I want to write when I want to write it.