The Secret to Writing in Get 'er Done Mode

I had the pleasure of a lunch date with my son today. Kaman is 12 and he's a fantastic conversationalist. We talked about our current projects and activities; I asked questions and I learned a lot. I learned, for instance, about the possibility of launching a career in comedy via the internet (specifically, YouTube). I also gained a greater understanding of what he is learning in programming and what his ultimate goal is (to learn as much as possible about all the various possible applications of the programming language he is learning, which I think is Java Script).

Kaman asked me a lot of questions about my projects, as well. It is quite clear that he has been paying attention. He managed to query about every angle of my current, multi-faceted career(?) path. Let's just say he had a solid grasp of the things that are important to me and knows a considerable amount about what I spend my time doing.

One question he asked, was this, "If you were to quit working at the farmers market, and didn't need to work at dad's office anymore, would you just spend your time writing, writing, writing and publishing books?"

To which I answered, "Writing some; publishing little."

I had the luxury of time for many years. Sometimes I think of all the free time I had before I had kids... and how seriously I pursued writing through those years. I think I managed two or three magazine submissions and an award in a national short-short story contest. And I worked on a novel or two, of course. Endless starts and zero finishes.

It wasn't until my children came along that I started making true progress as a writer. It wasn't until I was the mother of three that I was regularly publishing pieces for fun and profit. And it wasn't until I was working two part-time jobs, as well as a fairly involved volunteer gig, and trying to keep up with two teens and a tween, that I finally managed to finish and publish a book.

I know it works differently for each person, but I feel little need to get things done when I have all the time in the world. It's when my life is full that I take the approach that I better get 'er done.

“It starts with this: put your desk in the corner, and every time you sit down there to write, remind yourself why it isn't in the middle of the room. Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around.”

― Stephen King, On Writing