Wednesday 4 September 2013

IWSG September

It's still sunny here and I'm ignoring the fact that it's September and pretending it's still the middle of the summer. For once, we've had a good summer and everyone I know seems to have had their spirits lifted by it!

I'm not insecure this month, which is a nice feeling. I have a story in September's Woman's Weekly Fiction Special, another submitted and another just begun and I feel pretty chilled. I think this new, laid-back state is because I put writing on a back-burner for the summer. I spent time with my friends and family, caught up with people and didn't break myself in half trying to fit writing in around it (although I did manage to write one story.)

At the start of the summer holidays I was thinking I'd have days and days to write, but once the texts started to-ing and fro-ing and the calendar filled up, I could see that wasn't to be the case. I wrestled with the idea of putting some people off and leaving whole days free, but in the end I decided that...

GOING BY MY PAST PERFORMANCE...

I could write my novel for the 4 weeks I had free, ultimately abandon what I'd written and not have spent time with all these wonderful people. So I didn't write.

Now I'm back at school, my time is limited and I'm inspired to write again. I have come to the conclusion I like having small pockets of time to write in. Whole days are scary! Too much time to procrastinate - as most of us know!

I'm off to see how you're all getting on now!

Thanks for reading :-)

15 comments:

Suzanne Furness said...

Yes back to school today. Much like you I have spent time with family and friends this summer. I have done some writing but not days but hey I'm not going to stress. Well done with the stories, that's great.

Melissa Amateis said...

When I was a stay-at-home mom and had more time, I barely got any writing done. In fact, I didn't finish my first novel until I was working full-time. It's bizarre how that works!

Glad you enjoyed your summer and CONGRATS on your story getting published!

Jai said...

Whole days can be frightening. I took a weeks vacation with the intent of a stay home writers retreat...um, yeah. I did get caught up on my TV shows ;)

Congrats on getting published.

Bleue said...

Trying to fit this writing thing into this life thing is such a balancing act! And when its up against either write or spend time with loved ones, it really is impossible ;o)
Congrats on the publication!

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Congrats again on the story in the magazine! Funny how we can manage time when we have to. I think large chunks of free time scare me too!

Cathrina Constantine said...

I actually accomplished much more when I had a precise time frame. Now that I have a whole day to write because I work part-time I practically have to force my butt into a chair. Good Luck.

TracyFells said...

Writing for whole days at a time is tiring and really hard work. If you can write happily in a shorter space of time and still get time to spend with friends and family then don't knock that. Any writing time is worthwhile!

Unknown said...

Enjoy that chilled feeling. I often find that I write better when I have less time. Helps me focus :)

Awen said...

Brilliant Linda... Keep on keeping on. X

Annalisa Crawford said...

It's interesting that when you have a lot of time, you don't use it to it's full advantage. I'm the same. On a free day, I amble around blogs, potter on Facebook... because I've got all day to write, no? And then suddenly it's 5pm and I've not written a single sentence!

Happy September, and happy writing :-)

Zucchini said...

Nice post, great blog, following :)

Good Luck :)

Julie Flanders said...

Congratulations on your magazine story! Hope you're still feeling chilled - can't beat that. :)

Peaches Ledwidge said...

Congrats on getting your story in Woman's Weekly Fiction Special.

Vikki T said...

CONGRATULATIONS honey!

Nice to hear you're feeling like you want to write again :)

Xx

The Armchair Squid said...

Good luck with the writing, Linda. On the off chance you have found time for reading, too, I hope you might consider joining my bloggers' book club. Details are here: http://armchairsquid.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-cephalopod-coffeehouse-september.html