A Year of Unpredictability by Sydney Salter
I successfully predicted that 2018 would be unpredictable.
As a writer who is also a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, and until recently a daughter-in-law, I find that writing tropes are mostly useless to me.
I don't write every day.
Yet 2018 was the year that I finally finished the manuscript I started two--maybe three?--years ago. No one can see the places where I wrote a blast of 2,000 words on a great day, or the agonizing spots that took me much longer. No one can see the week I dropped my youngest daughter off at college. The summer mornings I chatted with my 10-year-old niece. Or the words I wrote while watching over my mother-in-law so someone could advocate for her when she could no longer speak during those final days.
I knew that I'd have to be flexible with my writing time, but I didn't realize how taking the pressure off maintaining a writing routine would make me so much happier. I no longer felt that constant tension: I should be... I should be...
I did what I could when I could.
I don't dare predict what 2019 will bring me, but I plan to bring patience and persistence to my work again this next year.
As a writer who is also a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, and until recently a daughter-in-law, I find that writing tropes are mostly useless to me.
I don't write every day.
Yet 2018 was the year that I finally finished the manuscript I started two--maybe three?--years ago. No one can see the places where I wrote a blast of 2,000 words on a great day, or the agonizing spots that took me much longer. No one can see the week I dropped my youngest daughter off at college. The summer mornings I chatted with my 10-year-old niece. Or the words I wrote while watching over my mother-in-law so someone could advocate for her when she could no longer speak during those final days.
I knew that I'd have to be flexible with my writing time, but I didn't realize how taking the pressure off maintaining a writing routine would make me so much happier. I no longer felt that constant tension: I should be... I should be...
I did what I could when I could.
I don't dare predict what 2019 will bring me, but I plan to bring patience and persistence to my work again this next year.
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| My tortoise collection reminds me that slow and steady wins the race! |
Bravo!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine is fond of quoting, "It takes as long as it takes."
I wish you the best in 2018. Life is what happens in between your plans.
ReplyDeleteI'm learning this very lesson, Sydney. It's a powerful one!
ReplyDelete