The deadline for my column crept up on me before I realized it, and I’m ashamed to say that I was shocked when our newsletter editor, Cherie, emailed with, “Are you writing a column this time?” I usually have it prepared a couple of weeks in advance, or at least the first draft of it. This time, life got in the way and I thought, “I have no time to write!” Does that ever happen to you?
It seems that lately, people tend to concentrate on things that provide instant gratification. You go to the store so that you can prepare tonight’s meal. You work to earn this week’s paycheck. When you don’t see an instant benefit from your writing, you tend to get discouraged, put it off, and say, “There are just too many other things to do.”
Writing is never an instant gratification process unless, of course, you’re in school and you receive an “A+” for your efforts. Writing, rather, is like constructing a quilt. Each story that you write, each newsletter column, article, or book, makes up the kind of writer you are, the body of work that personifies your talent. When you stare at an unfinished quilt in the corner of your sewing room for too long, you tend to lose interest in it or grow discouraged. If you work on it faithfully, however, a scrap here, a square there, a pattern here, you begin to see what your readers see … an evolution of beauty, clarity and “wholeness.”
There’s an old Buddhist saying that struck a chord with me. It read, “Everyone should meditate for 10 minutes a day unless they are busy. If they are busy, then they should meditate for an hour a day.” If you think about it, this is so true. The busier you are, the more you need to sit back, relax, and concentrate on the things that make up the big picture of you, your talents, your achievements, your soul.
For many Arizona Authors’ Association members, our writing craft makes up a significant portion of our legacy to the future. Each writing effort adds richness to the whole of that future we leave behind for our readers, even if our readers consist only of our family and friends. (When should family and friends ever be thought of as, “only?” They’re our most precious champions!)
We are what we write, and we improve ourselves by continuing to be what we are … writers. But how do we find the time when life gets in the way? Perhaps we should separate our tasks into two baskets, the first holding things that affect our future selves, the second containing the things we do merely for instant gratification, here today and discarded tomorrow. Practicing our writing craft falls into the first category. Those efforts shape our future.
Look through the second basket. What do you see? When I look there, I see moments wasted, things I could have done more efficiently, tasks that produced no genuine good. I see a minor spat with my daughter where I should have shown more patience. I see a ½ hour, futile political discussion on Facebook with someone who didn’t like my candidate. What was the point of that foray? I didn’t change his mind; he didn’t change mine. I could have churned out the rough draft of my column during that time, if I had thought about it. Instead, I got sidetracked. In effect, I threw my beautiful, partially finished quilt into the corner of my sewing room.
How many of those moments can you find? If you could take that time back and put it into the first basket, would you discover extra hours with which to construct your author’s portfolio, your legacy to time? All of us could, if we thought about it.
While none of us will ever truly finish our writing quilt, we can create one that keeps us warm in the knowledge that we have done our best, evolved, grown, gained stature as an author and increased our audience, even if it’s only by one reader. If I could fast forward to the end of my life, I know beyond doubt that I would much prefer to look back on a bounty of inspirational books, stories and folktales, rather than forgotten Facebook political arguments.
Some people tell me, “I’ll have more time when I retire,” or, “After the kids are in school, then I’ll write.” I’m a retired mother of four grown children and trust me, there is never more time than there is right now. If being retired or rearing the kids instantly produced more hours in the day, I would not have been caught with egg on my face when our dear editor contacted me about my column.
Do it now; make today count. Check that second basket, and you’ll find the time you need no matter how short that time is. If it’s only 10 minutes, think of a short quote you can write in that amount of time. No need for a manuscript. A short quote will do.
I’ve probably been where you are and done at least some of what you’ve done. I know how hard it is for young moms and dads with kids in diapers to set aside moments of quiet time. I know how impossible it is for parents to focus when their teens are out past curfew and they sit there wondering if there’s been a wreck. I promise you, however, that each decade brings a different set of challenges to eat up your time, energy and focus. Instead of putting off your literary efforts, write them now. You’ll find that as you get into the habit of writing when there’s no time, minutes magically appear.
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