Pulling the Pieces Together

For long time blog readers, you might recall that waaaay back in September of '07, I mentioned there would be some career changes in the air for '08. The biggest change is that I have drastically, as in almost completely, cut back on my project (read: paid) writing and am instead spending the first half of this year focusing on creative writing.

Or rather, I'm trying to. I'm amazed how quickly each day flies by and how little work it seems I've accomplished. My struggle is making life fit around my writing versus the other way around. This week, I am losing the battle.

Instead of sitting down to write, my mind is buzzing with a list of chores. These include: preparing material for a workshop this Saturday, writing and practicing a Toastmasters speech, following up with our dental insurance to see where the heck our claim money is, calling our auto insurance carrier to see if they'll match the better rate we were were quoted by a competitor, clean the house, buy stamps, pull together a tri-board display I said I'd do (stupid, stupid, stupid) for my Toastmasters group, write a brief proposal to someone who wants me co-author a book, research details for said proposal, exercise, yoga, volunteer at the animal shelter, wash my car, etc., etc.

Certainly nothing mind boggling or outside the ordinary there. But I'm finding that I'm focusing on getting all of the above done FIRST and then I'll write.  Only I'm not feeling the least bit creative or inspired after being on hold with dental claims for 30 minutes, or after spending 4 hours with caged animals in a shelter.

So my priority is to fit the rest of life around my writing time. Which probably means I need to start saying "no" more often then not. No, I can't give a speech that week, no, I will not teach a workshop, no, I can't meet for lunch or coffee. Writing time first, in the morning and early afternoon hours when I'm at my best. All the rest can wait to be dealt with in the late afternoon. I need to get back to my "no checking e-mail and no taking phone calls" before noon stance, as well.

So I'm going to ignore the list I just typed here, pour myself a cup of coffee (decaf) and go sit in my messy downstairs bedroom writing space and spend the morning writing. The rest of the world will just have to wait to be dealt with until later today. I'm sure it will still be there when I emerge.