WHOSEYWHATSIT THURSDAY: Stealing Time

When people find out I'm a writer ... that I've written several manuscripts ... they always ask a slew of questions. And somewhere in the midst is the question "where do you find the time?"

These people know me. They know I have three insanely busy children, that I'm the incoming PTA president, that I'm on the board for my daughter's cheer squad, that I work as an editor.

My first answer is that I'm a bad mom. When they laugh at that response - I adjust the answer a little and tell them that I steal time.

You see, for me to write - I need complete silence and I have to know I will have a significant chunk of uninterrupted time ahead of me.  I can't write when my husband is upstairs taking a shower, because inevitably he will come downstairs with a question.  I can't write when I know my kids will be dropped of in 10 minutes, because I don't want to be in the middle of a scene.

That leaves me approximately five mornings a week ... five mornings to concentrate and focus and power through my drafting or revisions. And so I have to try to keep everything else off my plate.

I do that by stealing time.

I steal minutes from my kids ... when they are doing homework I put away the dishes while looking over their shoulder.  When they are playing nicely together upstairs, I pay the bills.  I steal hours from my free time ... when I have errands to run, I schedule them when I will be in the area for something else. Or I time them so I can complete everything in one mad rush of a weekend morning.  I steal minutes from my relaxing evenings ... making lunches while catching glimpses of Grey's Anatomy or folding laundry while catching up with my husband about his day.

By getting all my tasks done, I am able to really write during the very few minutes of peace and quiet.

How do you fit in writing?

photo credit: dougbelshaw via photopin cc