Sorry for the lack of updates to this site recently.  I’ve had a lot going on recently: Tending to family matters one week, sick the next week, swamped the week after that… It never ends.  And all of this has not been conducive to working on my novel. 

Life is a juggling act. Can you keep all your priorities "up in the air"?

This morning I was thinking about “Light” and how long it’s taken to complete each draft.  I wrote the first draft off and on when I was in college and was finished in June 2007.  That took about 2 years.  Then I started the second draft – or rather, I revised the first draft extensively – in October 2007, and finished in November 2008.  Just over one year.  So I thought the third go-round would be a piece of cake, compared to the first two.

Wrong.

It’s been close to a year since I started working on the third draft.  And I just started Chapter 7 this weekend.  Which means I’m on pace to finish the third draft by, oh, let’s say mid-2011.  *sighs*

The reason is simple: I just don’t have the time I used to have to write.  I work longer hours than I used to, since my current job calls for longer hours.  Also, I’m obligated to help out at home, which is expected.  And, I’m suddenly having a harder time juggling all the projects I used to balance quite well.  In other words, real life has truly set in.

I don’t mean to complain, if I sound like I am.  Everything I’ve said thus far is a fact.  And what should someone do when they’re confronted by antagonistic facts?  Look them straight in the eye, and then run them over.  It’s like taking the bull by the horns and throwing it out of the ring.  I’ve realized this… But haven’t quite accepted it yet.

Look how much at peace she is... They say patience is a virtue. She is proof of that.

There are some days when I can’t fit in much writing and I’m not bothered by it too much.  “Tomorrow is another day,” I remind myself.  “Just be patient.”  However, on other days I’m wholeheartedly frustrated and angry at the world for “conspiring against me and my writing.”  I try to make up for it by staying up late to reread and revise just one more sentence, then another and another… and getting no sleep afterward.  (That’s why I was ill not too long ago, btw – from fatigue and overtiredness.)

Sometimes this frustration carries over into my writing, making it almost impossible for me to translate my thoughts and movie-reel imagination into written words.  Hearing people tell me they can’t wait to see my book published adds to my stress level when I feel this way, too.  It’s great that other people want me to succeed, but not everyone knows how difficult it is to write a novel.

It’s pretty clear what I need to do.  I work, feel, and live better when I am patient about writing.  So, I need to maintain this state of mind.  How I’m going to do that, I haven’t figured it out yet.  I’ll have to ask my friends at the writers’ group how they manage it.  They’ve all experienced this at one point or another, I’m sure.

So here’s the moral to this story: Writers have to be patient when it comes to their craft.  They cannot force it, and cannot be pressured into it.  They must give themselves the time, and be given that time by others.  Only then can we writers work efficiently – and make those precious steps that bring us closer to that as-yet undetermined publication date.

Wow.  How did I go from whiny to philosophical in one blog entry?  *lol*

Hopefully my next “Light” update will contain some real updates.  Until then, I tip my pen to you and say “Goodnight.”

~ Sara