Since I haven't stated it in earlier blogs, I do marketing and communications work as a remote employee for Goodwill Industries International, which is located in Maryland. I didn’t mention it because work was going to stay separate from my writing life. Yeah, right.
Friday was my first full day off under the new part-time work schedule and I blew it. Thought I’d be up and writing by 7:30 a.m. My mistake was checking my work email ON MY DAY OFF. There were two urgent messages. If I responded I’d be setting a precedent that work could encroach on my writing days. If I didn’t, we’d miss a deadline to submit comments on a joint communications project with a federal government agency.
I caved and did about an hour’s worth of work. Then I got angry. At myself mostly. I convinced myself I was too riled up to work on one of my novels, so I decided to clean the cat box, then vacuum, then clean the kitchen countertops, then pay the bills.
My husband, Andy, said it will take some time to develop a structure for my writing schedule and not to force it.
This afternoon, as Andy watched college football, I curled up in bed with my cat and my laptop. When I finally took a bathroom break, I realized I had been writing for more than two hours.
I guess inspiration can’t be forced into an 8-5 schedule and I didn’t blow it on Friday after all.
I struggle with this, too. I dream of a "wake up every morning and write for a few hours" schedule, but I find that if something disrupts my schedule (which happens regularly) I need to settle down to get back in the mood. I do the same as you, minus the cat - curl up on the bed with my laptop and voila, next thing I know I've done a couple hours of writing and I feel better.
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