Hello World!

I took a break from blogging. I know - you may have noticed since it was well over a month since I posted anything substantial.

There were several reasons for the hiatus.

1. I tiled my kitchen, dining room, and guest bathroom. (Okay - I did not tile it all myself, but I most definitely grouted)
2. My team at work doubled in size.
3. Season premieres of my favorite shows - Castle anyone? And wow, Flash Forward is my new fave!
4. I started thinking about blog posts when I should have been thinking about my book.

That's right - I met that dreadful stage when blogging started taking over much of my writing time. Since I have so very little of it, I wanted to focus more on writing. I also started feeling stressed about blogging. Something I quickly realized was ridiculous since the only person putting the pressure on to blog was me.

So, I went cold turkey for a while. I didn't quite get my novel to where I want it (grrr...endings!) but I did feel the stress level go down.

Are you at (or over) the point where blogging takes up most of your writing time? What do you do to combat it?

I'm a Citizen of Procrasti-Nation

Monday was the perfect day for me to write. My hubby is at work all day. My daughter took a five hour nap. That’s right – five hours (I had to peek in at her several times since she NEVER sleeps that long). So I could’ve written a couple chapters…right?

Nope.

Instead, I procrastinated…I surfed blogs, ate chocolate covered almonds, and perused news articles. I read and took a nice nap. But I did not write one word.

I’m asking myself why.

Did I just need a break from writing? Probably not.

Was I out of practice, since my writing hours have been severely cut since going back to work? Probably.

Was I forcing my characters to do something they wouldn’t do, so they decided to give me the silent treatment? Hmmm…gotta think more about that.

Whatever the reason, it was a lost day. I’ve just gotta shake off that writing funk and move on.

Why do you procrastinate writing?

You Have Hobbies?

I enjoy expressing my creativity through writing. I love putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, not quite knowing what will come out. The story I thought I'd write may suddenly twist on me, challenging me to rethink my characters.

But writing is not the only thing I enjoy doing. I have hobbies *shocked gasp*. And when I feel I have no more creativity within me, I'll turn to digital scrapbooking. After a couple days of scrapbooking, I find myself rejuvenated to continue with my WIP.

I think it's important to take time for your hobbies. You might end up incorporating them into your novel (so don't feel guilty). And you might end up trying new hobbies because of your characters.

But even if you don't ever use them in your book- it's still important to flex those creative skills in a different way, and let your WIP simmer.

What hobbies do you enjoy? How has it affected your writing?

Energy Vampires

I'm not talking about your DVR spiking up your electricity bill in the middle of the night.

I'm talking about those people that make you feel like you've gone through a meat grinder after a five-minute conversation. They bare their teeth and suck the energy right out of you with their negativity, or their narcissism, or their obliviousness. Or all three.

So what do you do? How do you cope? I mean, other than carrying around massive amounts of chocolate (because chocolate really does make everything better...until you step on the scale).

No, really- I want to know. How do you handle your energy vampires?

Forget Writer's Block- I've Got Writer's Guilt

I hadn't planned to blog about this, but apparently I needed to get it off my chest. So, read on at your own peril.

My first day at work was today. The alarm went off at an eye-blearing 3:35 AM. I hit snooze a few times and managed to roll out of bed by 4:00. I tossed on the clothes I'd picked up and dashed on a bit of makeup in the relative dark. Luckily, I did not look like a clown when my eyes fully opened. I scrounged in the spare bathroom for some band-aids (in case I got blisters from my newly purchased work shoes) and popped in to glance at my little cutie sprawled in her crib.

I grabbed my fabulous new handbag (it sounds so much nicer than clearance-priced purse) and rushed out the door, only ten minutes later than I wanted to. I walked to my car (note to self- clean out garage) hoping not to get mugged during that 7 step walk. It's never happened, but leaving at 4:27 in the morning does not instill confidence.

A wonderfully rush-hour-free commute and a detour to avoid a house fire (a house fire at 4:45 in the morning is so freaky!!!) brought me to work on time.

Introductions, help-desk calls, and training followed by a quick call to my mom to see how the sweet pea is doing, then back to work. No lunch, because I'd have to take it at 9:00, and who eats lunch at nine? (Maybe I'll pack breakfast for lunch tomorrow)

Then a quick commute home to see my daughter who prefers climbing into grandma's lap. I don't blame her, grandma's only here for two more days and then I'll get replaced in the affection category by my nieces who love to play with her.

So now I'm trying to get in a moment's blog writing, blog reading, and oh yeah- novel writing without feeling too guilty about not seeing the little one for hours today.

I'm one day in and I'm already feeling the mother's guilt I knew I'd have, added with the writing guilt I have for taking fifteen minutes to write this and read a couple blogs. I promised myself I'd read and write after she goes to bed. But then I have to workout, shower, prep for the next 3:30 wake-up call and go to bed within an hour and a half.

I'd appreciate your advice - how do you do it? How do you manage a family, work, and writing without feeling guilty. How do you give each part your all without being torn to do more for another part?

I plan to write on the novel during lunch at work (once the train the newbie phase is over), and hopefully that will ease the guilt a bit. Hopefully.


picture by ecpica