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The Gift of Moments For Busy Working Writers
Taking Advantage of Moments to Write
It’s a nice rainy day in California. We don’t get many of these days, so when we get them, we don’t complain. California suffers from droughts, and everyone here knows that we need rain and so we appreciate our wet days.
When I can stay home, I enjoy the sounds of rain. I like working at my desk that faces large windows and seeing the dark clouds and the water wash away the smog and clean our streets. Everything feels clean and fresh after the rain showers.
As a writer, I probably enjoy it more than others. Not being able to go outside gives me an excuse to sit and work on my novel (yes, I have grading and emails, and other things to do too. I don’t get to write exclusively, unfortunately.) and enjoy being inside. I can tell myself that I would go out for a walk and get some exercise, if only I could.
This made me think of a couple of things.
Unexpected Time To Write
The first is that taking advantage of “found” time to write is important. We all have busy schedules, so when something unexpected happens, we need to jump on that time and make use of it.
Don’t do laundry. Don’t clean out the fridge. Don’t watch your favorite show. As cute as Lucifer is, my novel is more important.
Instead, take these unexpected gifts of free time and use them to make progress on your story.
I joke about not having to go on a walk, but the truth is that I love going on walks or going for a swim because I like to exercise, and it makes me feel great. I would not choose to skip this part of my routine, but since I have not choice on a rainy day, I have been given a gift of a couple of extra hours. These must be used for writing.
Everyone has times like these. Maybe a child’s baseball practice gets canceled, or a spouse brings home pizza meaning you don’t have to cook. These extra moments, if they are not wasted, can mean extra writing time and extra pages written.
Moments Are Full of Magic
The second thought that came to me is how important it is for writers to write about the small stuff instead of…
