FIRST DRAFTS IN LIFE
Here I am again, months since I last posted although I am always so determined to keep somewhat up-to-date. Life, other than my writing life, seems to get in the way. Recently, I have come to the conclusion that having life do its thing isn't all bad. The quote I read several days ago says it all: "Each day you have to start all over again. No repeats allowed." In other words, we only go through this day, this life one time and we had better make the most of it.
Though I have been writing, rewriting, doing some first drafts of other projects, I have also been gardening, walking along the beach, taking my morning coffee and muffin to a nearby park, driving several elderly neighbors to doctor appointments and enjoying the awakening spring,and the new me.
In my teaching responsibilities I have learned how to get those first drafts out. Though I have never been the kind of writer to edit my chapters as I write, I know that is not the best route for all writers. I feel for myself that if I stop to edit I will find a glitch in each edit and would never complete the book. I guess, at my age, I have also decided that planning each day has been taking some of the exuberance out of life. I am working on an edit of that completed piece of work.
So, I want to share this with you: Don't write every day. Don't tell your loved ones you can't go on that picnic because you have to complete a chapter. Don't give up your entire life to be a successful writer. First, you have to be a success in your personal life. Publication and all the joy accompanying it, can be yours without cutting out the special heart of your life.
When friends and fellow writers ask me when the next book will be published, I smile and reply with something like, "it will be ready when I work it all out"--first drafts will be easy if my life in general is a happy one. It doesn't mean that I don't want to be published, don't look forward to those book signings and sales. But for the moment, the happy ending in each day of my life is more important.
Look at your life. Are there some first drafts of fun, adventure, travel, or love waiting for you to create?
Though I have been writing, rewriting, doing some first drafts of other projects, I have also been gardening, walking along the beach, taking my morning coffee and muffin to a nearby park, driving several elderly neighbors to doctor appointments and enjoying the awakening spring,and the new me.
In my teaching responsibilities I have learned how to get those first drafts out. Though I have never been the kind of writer to edit my chapters as I write, I know that is not the best route for all writers. I feel for myself that if I stop to edit I will find a glitch in each edit and would never complete the book. I guess, at my age, I have also decided that planning each day has been taking some of the exuberance out of life. I am working on an edit of that completed piece of work.
So, I want to share this with you: Don't write every day. Don't tell your loved ones you can't go on that picnic because you have to complete a chapter. Don't give up your entire life to be a successful writer. First, you have to be a success in your personal life. Publication and all the joy accompanying it, can be yours without cutting out the special heart of your life.
When friends and fellow writers ask me when the next book will be published, I smile and reply with something like, "it will be ready when I work it all out"--first drafts will be easy if my life in general is a happy one. It doesn't mean that I don't want to be published, don't look forward to those book signings and sales. But for the moment, the happy ending in each day of my life is more important.
Look at your life. Are there some first drafts of fun, adventure, travel, or love waiting for you to create?
posted by Barb | 9:46 PM
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