If only I could devote all day to writing, I’d have novels dripping off my bookshelf by now!
If you’re a writer, I’m sure thoughts like that have passed through your mind occasionally, like about a million times a day.
But I’m not so sure it’s true.
Or, it’s probably not true in the way we imagine it must be.
The fantasy in my mind goes something like this:
If I were a full-time writer, I’d get plenty of sleep, wake up fully rested, and dig into my prose with renewed vigor each morning.
I’d be a productive genius, with brilliant ideas flowing like chocolate fountains at Charlie’s factory.
I’d crank out book after book … I’d be fulfilled … I’d be happy … I’d be relaxed.
I would no longer be beholden to schedules or routines.
But when I do have the chance to do nothing but write, like on weekends or during staycations?
It’s a real struggle to get stuff going, that’s what, and I think it’s precisely because I don’t have much of a routine on those days. I have no structure to keep me “honest” in terms of getting stuff done.
During the week, I know precisely which hour or which 15 minutes will give me a chance to work on my latest masterpiece, but Saturday is a gorgeous amorphous lump of time.
All of which is to say that it was a struggle to get my words in today — Saturday, that is, Day 2 of NaNoWriMo 2019.
But I did it, eventually banging out 2000 words and a new chapter that has my protagonist feeling hopeful about things but as of yet unaware of the trouble that awaits here at home.
Tomorrow will probably be more of the same struggle, because Sunday isn’t much different than Saturday when it comes to structured time.
How about you? Are you a more productive writer during the work week or during breaks from your normal schedule?
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