If you are like most poets and writers, you probably have to work a job — academic or otherwise — and you probably have friends, some sort of family, bills to pay and perhaps an unfair traffic ticket to handle.
Whatever your issues, you have to find the time to write. Writers constantly wonder about this issue. We talk about it over coffee, over beer, over bourbon, over the swimming pool and under milky clouds.
You’ve got fight for writing.
When I graduated from graduate school, I thought time would come down out of the sky and present itself to me. I’d think I’d write at the end of the day, after Friday, after dinner, after, after, after.
It’s funny how after took a long time to arrive. I wish I’d realized I had to fight for it.
Now I sneak for it. I sneak out — not really but it’s fun to say so — in the wee hours. Did you know Starbuck’s opens at 6:30 a.m. on Sundays? I had no idea people were alive at 6:30 a.m. on a Sunday. They are. They even have the audacity to come into the coffee shop when I am there.
After my first early-morning jaunt on a Sunday, I was hooked. I had to have more. I can only imagine the feeling was like tasting an addictive drug. I had to get away the following weekend.
On the third weekend, my novel was shaping up well. I had more poems written. I felt alive. I looked forward to my pre-dawn excursions. The bitter cold did not stop me. Unfair traffic tickets did not stop me. I kept going. I asked my husband about heading out before work on weekdays.
Try it and see.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey
I’ve just opened a new site: http://www.a-poem-a-day.co.nr where the idea is that I write a new poem everyday, for as long as possible! I was hoping to get feedback, and possibly suggestions on what I can do to improve my poetry, and would really appreciate your help!
And even if you don’t want to comment, I’d love for you to read my poetry!
Thanks
Used to be a morning writer, but the early hours belong to others in the house now. I still rely on the refuge of the car both to fill my head with words and to pull them back out.
The “After” trap is dangerous, but “Between” works for me: when “this is my chance”, I usually use it well.
Yes, thanks for this. My own experience as well and it took me too long to figure out. The reminder is useful.
I’ve worked for a living mostly talking on the phone and typing on computers, mostly in large offices (100+ employees), and in some cases, and currently, for extremely large corporations.
At two of the jobs I had, the employer allowed us to work on our own stuff (reading, writing, knitting, balancing checkbooks, whatever else) while we were working. I stayed at one job, that didn’t pay well and didn’t have good benefits, for six years because I was able to get a lot of writing done during the day.
At my current job I don’t have that luxury, so I write before work, during breaktimes, after work in the evenings, and on weekends. It’s a tighter squeeze though still works. (I should add here that I’m currently single and have no children, in other words no major responsibilities at the moment other than paying my own bills, etc. That clearly leaves me with more available time than I would have if I were giving my attention to children and so on.)
I’ve never attempted an M.F.A., and I’m up in the air about whether I think I would have found teaching in an English department amenable (assuming I had subsequently found work doing that, obviously not guaranteed after being in an M.F.A. program). I’m sure I would have enjoyed teaching in and of itself most of the time, though the workload, the publish-or-perish treadmill, and the office politics would likely have been a drain on my morale.
Thanks for posting this.
Love this posting.
We do have to take the time. A few minutes here, whatever we can do to get those words down on paper!
When I was working in a corporate job, I wrote as almost a reward for finishing something I didn’t enjoy doing.
Probably why I still love working on steno pads because no one can tell you aren’t working on well..work
I’ve gotten better at this – stealing. making. taking. time for myself. Not always easy, but always worth it!
peace,
JP/deb
Sometimes, sentences pop into my mind and I start spilling out words. I want to write them down but I always find myself stripped of the necessary objects (I’ve been known to write with lipstick on the back of atm receipts).
Yes, I’ve bought a notebook already.
I wish I had the time to just sit down and write. However, inspiration comes and goes…
Nice post…..early mornings and midnights are the best when it comes to writing poetry…my creativity is at its peak during those hours…and its true you really need to guard your time…if required run after it … catch hold of it and never let it slip out of your hand….