It's the first day of July and the first Wednesday of the month. That means IWSG bloghop posting. If you're a stranger to this bloghop. IWSG was started by Alex J. Cavanaugh, writer of bestselling space opera and a leader in the blogging community. On the first Wednesday of every month, participants share their current insecurity or share how they're beating insecurity this month. You can sign up on the list at IWSG website and find a list of participants. It's fun and you'll meet a lot of knowledgeable writers.I received my IWSG tee-shirt two days ago. It's really nice. Along with my A to Z Challenge tee-shirt, I can proudly show the world that I'm a writer and a blogger.
My insecurities this month are the usual for the summer months and July is worse than normal. When I was teaching school, summer was the time I had the chance to be a full-time mom. Then when I started writing full time, summer was the time my kids were home from college and I could spend time with them. I don't want to be inside or even on the porch or deck writing. I want to hang out with my children. I want to be outside in the sun. I want to float in the pool on a raft with my daughter and talk about everything and nothing. But I'm already behind on my WIP. I wanted to have the first draft done by the end of June. I'm about 3/5ths done. And there are FOUR family events going on this month, so that will be more time away from the computer.
Happy Canada Day to our friends to the north. I read this quote somewhere.
"Canada is a country that works better in practice than in theory." Stephanie Dion, Canadian politician
Keep a thing 7 years and you will find a use for it. Gaelic proverb
Did you share your insecurity today? Have you gotten your tee-shirt yet? If you're Canadian, can you explain that quote? Would you keep something for 7 years if you weren't using it?
70 comments:
Don't stress Susan, your WIP will get done. Yep. There's some things I'd keep forever. :-)
Maybe you can set aside a particular time each day just to get some words in. If you can be faithful to that time, no matter how short, you'll make some progress.
Maybe there will be some rainy days and you'll have to stay inside and write.
I got my t-shirt a couple days ago.
You'll get it done, Susan. You'll find the time to write and enjoy your family. I have no doubt. :)
I like those quotes! The Canda one, especially.
Better too much to do than not enough. :)
I think I would enjoy the time with family and get to writing when you can :) I'm not sure I would keep something for seven years and not use it, but then I realized I moved around pants/capris that I thought I would lose weight and fit back into them for about 9 years, finally dumped them on our last move :)
betty
It will get done, have to enjoy family time while you can.
Maybe a little time with your kids is all right.
Spending time with your family is the perfect reason not to write. :)
Happy Canada Day! It's hard for me to stay in and write when the weather is absolutely gorgeous and we don't bet many days like this in London, but I'm trying to be good. Have fun and hopefully write some.
And then the kids move out and there's nothing any longer to mark summers or even weekends. Enjoy your time with your wonderful children!
Wow, my insecurity is similar to yours. I'm currently teaching, so I'm off now, and feeling guilty because I'm letting my mom take care of my son four days a week so I can write full time. But if I was able to quit my day job and do the full time writing thing, I would definitely be spending more time with my family. Cherish every minute.
You folks have t-shirts? I'm impressed.
Happy Canada Day! I love Canada. It is a nation that has overcome what might seem difficult problems from the outside: bilingualism, a small population spread over an enormous area, brutal winters, the Gretzky trade, etc.
I am just getting absolutely no writing done this summer. My kids are home and are a huge distraction:) I will get back to work come August.
Haha... I'm not sure about that Gaelic proverb.... growing up in Dublin, if you couldn't find a use for something in seven *weeks,* your neighbor would probably steal it :)
I'm always home with the boys - and it's soooo hard to write when they're awake, so now I just *try* to write at night... I love the peace.. but sometimes I just fall asleep, 'cos the wee lads have worn me out :)
(and I wouldn't have it any other way :)
Happy Canada Day - and Happy Fourth of July to you and yours, Susan!
PS: Thanks for offering to help - really appreciate ya :)
My current plan is to spend most of my summer writing again, like I did last year. But this year, I've got a house to redecorate and a wedding to plan, so I'm already doubting how much I'm going to be able to get done. But I think you should definitely enjoy spending time with your children and don't worry if you don't get too much writing done :), you'll get it finished in the end, even if it's a little bit later than you would like :)
Good luck finding time to write. I know I need it. No cprw this month either. My writing life is dwindling! lol!
I can completely relate to this post! When my kiddos are on summer break, I'd really rather be hanging outside with them then inside writing. I mean, I want to write. All the time. But, where we live, the climate is practically freezing nine months out of the year. Warm weather is on short supply, so I like to take advantage of it. #sighs ... but then I feel guilty for not writing. Grrr... There is no happy medium. (Thank you for stopping by Writer's Alley! I'm following you now.)
I'm evil. I'm sending my kids to camp for several weeks so I don't have to give up all my writing time this summer.
As for sharks along the coast of SC--well, as a matter of fact, twice I saw a triangular fin swimming rather close and we got out of the water right away. No one else in my family saw this, but whenever I pointed out dolphin families (much further out) they saw those just fine. I don't know if these closer fins belonged to sharks, but we weren't all that far away from the NC attacks, relatively speaking.
I can relate . . . except my kids are so busy with kayaking and canoeing over the next four weeks that I have chunks of time available for writing with days that no writing or very little writing is going to get done . . . like yesterday when I took them and some of their friends to a water-park with roller coasters. I knew that day was out for writing. But today . . . I have a few hours. :)
Take time with your family. They need you and you need them. Love them, and let that manuscript get done in spurts, if needed.
Family comes first. Deadlines will wait. Kids won't. I face the same dilemma except my kids are still at home, and home schooling. And there's a new baby in the house. It's okay to slow down sometimes and enjoy life. =)
You’ll find your way to completing your WIP. If you look at it in a different way, you have 2/5 left to complete. Just take baby steps, do a little at a time. And enjoy your summer.
I'm in the prcess of waiting for my T-Shirt, am looking forward to recieving it.
Yvonne.
Giving up what we love, time, money to write is really hard. I hear you and hope you find a balance. Writing is a difficult endeavor, but soooo worth it. :)
Love the quotes!
Time with family is never wasted, but I hear ya.
I struggle with the same thing.
IWSG #123 until Alex culls the list again.
I always think I'll get more writing done in the summer, but when it comes down to it I always choose my kids. That's what you should do too. In the end, it's living our lives that will help us infuse our stories with the emotional impact to hook our readers. Enjoy it when you get the chance!
Oh yeah, summer is always WAY less productive for me. I just want to be outside, reading and relaxing. I've learned to stop pushing myself so hard in the summer, and trust that I'll make up for it when winter comes!
Even if you're never going to use them, Denise? LOL
Thanks for the encouragement, JL. I've been getting a little bit done jsut not as much as I expected.
Aren't the tee-shirts great?
I'm not as busy as you are with kids but there's a lot going on. Thanks, Madeline.
No one has explained it to me yet, Lee.
I've never experienced not enough to do, Maria, and I bet you haven't either.
LOL, betty, I have clothing like that and now it's out of style.
I expecting hours of fun this weekend.
I'm thinking of a lot of time with them, Alex. And hours getting ready for the get together.
With your blessing, Chrys. LOL
The nice weather got me today. I did mow the grass and vacuum the pool. All kinds of things that kept me from writing but still needed to be done.
Hopefully, some grandchildren will come along and remind of the school year and all kinds of things to sit back and enjoy.
Cheers to your mother. I bet she doesn't mind.
I thought the Gretzky trade would do them in for sure.
The children do demand a lot of time even when they're older.
My pleasure to help. Your lads are so cute they would distract anybody.
You are busy, Rachel. Weddings seem to take a lot more planning than they used to. Good luck.
No dwindling allowed or I'll shoot my hair scrunchy at you.
Thanks for the follow. I love the heat and sun so I always want to be outside.
Oh, you make me shiver. Our entire family is heading to Myrtle Beach at the end of July.
Good idea for the camp. The kids will love it. No guilt allowed.
Your kids are so active. I'm sure they appreciate all the running you do for them just as you enjoy watching them compete.
How you get anything done with that new baby...you're amazing.
Thanks for the encouragement, Lidy. Baby steps it is.
You're going to like it, Yvonne. Did you get the A to Z one too?
Trying to get a lot done today and tomorrow so I don't feel bad for the lost days coming up.
Moms everywhere have the same battles for personal time.
I know they'll be gone soon enough, off living their own lives. It is a blessing to have them so close to us.
I don't like heat, so I find I slow up in the summer too. I think it's natural. Enjoy your family!
After the winter you had, you should soak up every ray of sunshine you can. Next winter you'll have to shovel wider paths to get the double stroller through. Hehe
Summer is my favorite. I don't mind winter so much now that I work at home.
I sometimes think I take on more than I can do and that ends up putting my writing at the bottom of the list. Which makes me sad. This time of year I want to be out on a bike or taking a hike or on the lake.
Enjoy your summer and your kids. They grow up far too quickly.
Everyone always schedules events for summer because school is out. Of course it means everyone's just running around to all those events. Too bad you can't float in the pool while working on the WIP. I guess it would be a little dangerous :P
Gotta take that time w/ the kiddos when you get it. I'm the opposite of that Gaelic quote - if I put something a box for 6 months and don't think about it, it's goooone.
i feel your time constraints - we have baseball tournaments every weekend! but i'm actually doing a pretty good job balancing watching games and writing, the house could use a little work, but it can always use a little (a lotta) work! that's when i make the boys chip in and we spend time working the elbow grease together! WIPs take a backseat, but they'll get done eventually!
Hands down, I would be with my kids as much as can. It is a juggle to get everything you want done. You are already superwoman as far as I am concerned.
Deadlines tend to trip me up. I had science labs 2 to 3 days a week when I taught but I never told the kids ahead of time. Something would happen. I guess it is in my head.
I'm taking my laptop to camp, so I hope to actually write more in my free time... no distractions! With any luck I will finish this round of revisions (hopefully close to the last!).
Hang in there. I know that your WiP isn't progressing as fast as you'd like, but people are important. We must always honor our lives!
It's winter here in Oz, so there's no real desire to go outside in the cold winter winds. It's a great time for writing! Maybe you should visit... ;)
It's important to work on your WIP, but it's also important to take time for yourself and your family. It's just a case of balancing it out :)
Hi, Susan.
Sometimes time away from writing is a good thing. It frees up the cobwebs. Besides family IS important. We, as writers can't "NO LIVE" for our craft. I did that for the first two years when I began writing and it overtook my life.
Remember it is all about balance. A content writer will get the work done eventually. As I always say TIMING is everything. Happy fourth weekend!
I know what you mean about summer fun and family. Still, our stories percolate, even in that downtime. That's what mine are doing, as I paint outdoors, taking advantage of the beautiful weather we're having in Chicago. Speaking of Canada Day, I've been doing some serious armchair travel to Canada. Watching the Women's World Cup. Lots of fun and awesome athleticism in those matches!
Oooh, I should order a Tshirt... Thanks for dropping by over on my blog! <3
♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥
Surely you can find at least thirty to sixty minutes each morning, ass in chair. Even when we're busy. But if not, enjoy the summer.
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