It's time to play the...
GUESS WHAT I NEGLECT game!
Where I take you through my writing day, and you get to guess which priorities get neglected around here.
This game was inspired by the number of times I get asked, "How do you find time to be a mom and a writer?"
Also brought to you by, "I could write a book, but I don't have the free time you obviously do."
And my favorite: "I'd write a book, but I love my kids."
Okay, nobody really said that last one, but sometimes it feels like it.
I'm sure you've all heard writers say they are as busy as the next guy, and it's true. So I'll take you on a tour of my writing day.
Here's my writing space:
I come here whenever I get a chance. There are three things I need on my desk in order to really have the most productive writing block (not to be confused with "writer's block":
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| The Bread of Life. |
Water, Diet Coke, Tea, and honey for the tea.
Yes, I pee a lot. But that gives me a good break.
I try to make everything convenient. If I need another Diet Coke, I simply walk out to my front porch.
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| A place for everything, and everything in its place. The Diet Coke's place is on the front porch. Next to the car seat. Under the caulking gun. |
If I need something to eat, like a leftover roll, I look under the coffee table.
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| Who needs a pantry? |
If I need something to wear, I look on the kitchen floor, and check to see if they're dry yet.
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| There really is method to the madness. They're drying in the sunlight. |
I like to keep weapons accessible. If I need to act out a fight scene, I simply grab the light saber next to the chair:
... or the sword next to the other chair:
...and for the really emotional scenes, I choose the Scythe of Death on the kitchen bar stool:
If Kid C asks me where he can find a clean shirt, I (exasperatedly) tell him to look where they always are... on certain Tuesdays of the month... when the moon is just right: folded and neatly put away in a large pile next to the banister.
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| That space is dedicated space. |
And if friends come over, I escort them to the one room of the house that is generally clean. The kitchen.
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| I don't like to be distracted while I'm eating. So there's only one computer and one television in the kitchen. |
Sure there are all those clothes on the floor, but they are in really neat piles. The reason my kitchen is so clean (relatively, I know) is because I made a vow a long time ago that the kitchen is too beautiful to mess it up with my lame attempts at cooking.
Now for the crux of the game: Can you guess how I find time to write? Can you GUESS WHAT I NEGLECT?
I heard a quote over the weekend: "Balance comes when you neglect a little bit of everything."
I can't remember who said it. I was too busy writing. But it's very true. I neglect a little bit of everything, but a lot of a certain thing. You probably know what that certain thing is.
I miss you already.
