This morning at 7 a.m. I was at my computer recording a page of The Courtesan Prince on Chirbit, checking my writerly e-mail and responding to a lovely "hail" on facebook from the woman who posed for Ann, the character on the cover of the book. It takes me about 20 minutes. Then I work. But I'm taking a break, now, around 11 a.m., to spend 15 minutes posting this -- despite the text-message interruptions from my middle daughter, Angela. I'll work until I get tired, maybe 8 p.m, with a supper break. But tomorrow is Saturday so the family will have crepes for breakfast and listen to myself and Krysia read the next installments in our respective works-in-progress. I'll have to work Sunday. But some evening next week, I'll take three hours off to write the next bit for the following Saturday. Why? Because there will only be so many Saturdays with crepes and I don't want to miss one. And because I work better when I've had fun. I've renounced writing many times in my life, blaming it for other frustrations or discouraged by the difficulties. But cleaning out papers in my den this month it dawned on me -- I've been doing it ALL MY LIFE and the odds are I'll keep doing it until my muse is well and truly done with me. So like others, I'm working for balance. And maybe the self-knowledge to understand the role of creativity in my life so I, and others, can extract the maximum benefit from it with the least angst.

Labels: discussion, Lynda Williams, Tina Hunter

posted by Lynda at 11:07   comment? e-mail lynda@okalrel.org 1 comments