I used to be an “I'll do it later, when I've got time to focus” kind of writer. That was before I had two jobs, a husband who's out of town frequently, two medium-sized dogs, and two kids. Ha! How things change. Now I'm an “I'll write whenever, wherever, however, with whatever's on hand” kind of writer. And the funny thing is that I'm more prolific now than I was back then. Go figure.
I don't think I need to answer the more obvious parts of the “what keeps you from writing” question. One of the not-so-obvious things that keeps me from writing is my perception of its value. I carve time out from my busy schedule for at least an hour of yoga a day, plus strength training and cardio (both of which play second fiddle to yoga, if there's any question of lack of time). I have a number of reasons for this, but the primary one is that I value it, and my family has grown to accept it and value its benefits (both for me and for them) as well.
Writing, on the other hand, doesn't seem to rate the same level of value, and I always seem to find excuses to put it off, “just for a bit.” Knowing the success I've had integrating daily yoga into my life, my goal for July is to make sure that I'm doing the same with my writing. Part of the problem is my perception of it, especially my often incorrect assumption that I'll carve time out to do it later. A second part of the problem is that I haven't published or presented anything in a while (since late October of 2011, to be exact), so there's the perception, both on my part and on my family's (okay, my husband's) that the time isn't necessarily worth the outcome. Personally, I know that this is primarily due to my lack of time spent (1) producing material for publication and (2) polishing and sending out material for publication. The third part of the problem is that I spend a *lot* of time writing in my “real” job as a professor of English and Communications. So when I come home at the end of a workday, I often don't feel like writing much of anything at all.
Just as I've spent the last six months slowly moving my family towards healthier behaviours (eating, exercise, stress reduction, etc.), I'm planning on spending the summer carving out and keeping time to write. I'm going to make sure that if I put my writing off, it does get done later. I'm going to work toward publishing, with a goal of submitting several pieces by the end of summer (and I'm aiming for those to be *gasp* non-academic pieces, to boot). And because I'm currently off for the summer, writing “too much” during the workday isn't going to be a problem.
I've learned from the last six months of focus on my own health that habits, once formed, are hard to break. I had to skip yoga one day earlier this week (it's been a week of tornadoes, torrential rain, and overall wild weather ... house preservation had to come first). The next morning I was already busy plotting how I'd work the lost time into my schedule, and managed to do two hours that day, rather than my normal one. I'm hoping that, with perseverance, I'll see the same success with writing ... making a habit of it.
Ideal writing setting? LOL ... it used to be quiet, peaceful, perfection. Everything had to be “just so.” Now I'm writing whilst the kids are playing some weird game in the background involving Hot Wheels cars and a lot of crashing, my husband's busy trying to keep them in line while watching Saturday morning talking heads (which I can't stand ... hence my writing at the moment), the washing machine's whirring away in the background, and one of the dogs keeps barking at the birds outside. My desk looks like a small bomb has gone off on it, and I'm surrounded by Rubbermaid tubs of camping gear that needs to be put back into our basement. Yet I'm still writing ... so at the moment, I'm going to say it's finding the time and space to actually sit down and write. I'm aiming, by the end of the summer, for it to be a regular time and space in which to write, not entirely free of distractions, but one in which interruptions are only tolerated for specific reasons. I'd love a door on my office, but that's just not going to happen ... so I'll settle for creating intangible boundaries, instead.
Ideal time? During morning coffee or after yoga, which is usually done in the evening. I'm not overly productive, creativity-wise, during the afternoon, although that's a good time for busy-work and editing. I'm not exactly a morning person, though, so early-ish morning writing isn't usually practical. I've trained the boys from a young age that they're not to bother me during the 20 minutes or so it takes to drink a cup of coffee, so am aiming for the next couple of months to take that time to write, as well. I'd love to have the entire morning to write, everyday, which is what I did when writing my thesis for my MA ... hopefully I'll be able to do that again!
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