Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Oh... Life.

Hi all! Welcome to my new bloggy friends and thanks for the follows. Welcome to all my old friends and thanks for your support! :-)

I am trying my best to follow all of you back, but some of you don't show links to your blogs. So if you have a blog that I haven't shown my face on at least once, I'm asking pretty pretty please to link me in the comments.

Then, I want to remind you all about the Treasures of Carmelidrium competition. Go check it out. Easiest win ever. ;-)

So... today I wanted to run an improved schedule and tell you how that worked for me. But... I kind of got stuck saying hi to yesterday's commenters and some of the other blogs... (Suspect I got round to about 100 of you.) Then work kicked in, followed by special practice at choir.

Yes, choir. Interesting factoid about me: I'm a soprano with a wicked range when my voice is in practice and flu free. Working on both.

I finally got to the writing later today - after quitting time. One hour and twenty minutes later, I had 1200 words.

Will I be able to add to that? Probably not, as I have to go join up with a church thing tonight.

Which brings me to this point:

Life sometimes takes up all of our writing time. That's not a bad thing. At least we get to do some living.

And when life is boring, we get to write. ;-)

Do you get frustrated with interruptions to your writing plans?

33 comments:

  1. Oh yes! I've given up feeling guilty if I end up writing in class these days. If I write before class starts I'm bound and determined to finish the scene/chapter I was writing before my class so rudely interrupted my time. But really I only do this in classes where the professor lectures the book back to the class (really no point in paying attention half the time).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, I do get frustrated when all my other jobs take up my writing time, but I know I'll eventually get to it. It might not be as soon as I hoped, though.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm an alto! I always wished I had a wicked range! :) I do feel guilty or frustrated when I don't manage to find time to write. But, I usually make sure I put aside at LEAST a half hour every day. I usually find more, but sometimes life does get in the way. :) We just keep plugging along though!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Frustrated?

    bwhahahahahahahahaha

    Um, what's beyond frustrated?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I despise writing interruptions, including myself. I just need to sit down and type. Unfortunately, I'm not happy about my writing spot, but it's the only place I have right now in my house. There's no door to shut so I just put in my earphones and hope no one will talk to me. I think I might make a sign letting everyone know when the earphones are in the door is shut.

    lauramcampbell.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Every writer can empathise with writing interruptions. I recently came across a sign post that writers can put on their doors. it reads 'WRITER AT WORK'. I posted it on my blog and everyone wants to know it it works...:o)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm not sure if you follow me or not, I will always try to follow someone who leaves a comment on my blog, but it's really frustrating when there's no link to follow. Everyone needs to check theirs out regularly because Blogger can change it without you realizing it. I'm not sure how that happens but it's happened to me a couple times.

    ReplyDelete
  8. What KarenG says above is so important--the blogger elves can do mischief with your profile--and your blog in general, so you have to keep checking. People with links get visted. Those who don't, don't.

    Thanks a bunch for taking the time to comment on my blog regularly. I really appreciate your input. But yes, your writing should come first. No--take that back: family and real-life friends first. When you get rejections, family and friends are what you need most.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I can't sing a note, but I am trying to learn to play the piano.

    As for being frustrated - all the time, but then when I do spend a lot of time writing - I feel guilty about everything else I'm not doing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh yeah! I get so frustrated when I'm trying to write and life keeps jumping in front of my screen and waving its arms like a needy child. Lol :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yay for singers! What kind of soprano are you? I'm lyric-esk, and definitely out of practice. Do you have any singing samples online? Are you a soloist at all or a choir participant mainly? I sing here: www.immoralthemusical.com/index.php/music

    I've learned to write in my head so that computer time is primarily transcribing what's already completed. Makes "real life" a little less...frustrating?

    ReplyDelete
  12. The only interruption to my writing that really irritates me is when it's my brother calling because I know the only reason he's calling is to ask for something. Like the last phone call was to shine me on for like 30 seconds and then ask if I'd watch his dog for him for a week while he runs off to Palm Springs.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I've learned to go with the flow or make additional time (getting up earlier or going to bed later) when necessary.

    ReplyDelete
  14. My sympathies, Misha! Life always seems to get in the way of writing! I guess we have to keep on keeping on. Still, 1200 words in 1 hour 20 minutes is awesome! Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete
  15. If I'm in the zone for writing, any distractions can be so frustrating. When I'm not in the zone, then distractions are a welcome relief ;)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Fascinating, Misha! Wish I could hear your soprano range. Both my daughters were altos (well, maybe second sopranos but they got put in the alto section cuz it was skimpy) and sang in choir.

    Yes, I certainly get frustrated with how life "interferes" with my writing. But we have to live in order to have subjects to write about, too! ;o)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Misha,
    "Do you get frustrated with interruptions to your writing plans?" Absolutely not. I see it as an opportunity to potentially discover new inspiration in whatever I may have been writing.
    Then again, as I've stated before, I am under no pressure to maintain a writing schedule. I write when I want to write :)
    I was a 'soprano' for a few agonising minutes. If only I'd noticed that baseball heading towards a rather sensitive region...
    Have a peaceful day and happy writing.
    Gary from over at a very shy and humble blog :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I do and I don't but then I'm editing and I feel ambivalent about the massive cycle of editing I'm stuck in (and all the more ambivalent by the fact I see huge mistakes each time I do it). Distractions from editing feels both good and bad so ... yes and no?

    ReplyDelete
  19. i like to say live vicariously. it's my new motto in life. however, it doesn't leave much time for actually living.

    i get distracted by a multitude of things.

    ReplyDelete
  20. OH! I have always wanted to be able to sing. I can, but not well...at all... I'm actually a fan of interruption but only because I interrupt myself on purpose every now and then. Unplanned interruptions, oh yea...those I hate.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Oh my goodness, yes! All the time! Sometimes I get very easily distracted, and before I know it, the entire day is gone.

    But apart from that, things just always seem to crop up.. sometimes it's an uphill battle.

    ReplyDelete
  22. A singer! That's a nice way to spend your time if you're not writing. And way cooler than cleaning the bathroom tile. :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. 1200 words sounds amazing!! (with a full-time, stressful job, a husband, two kids, and well, life - 1200 words IS amazing) Go you!!
    erica

    ReplyDelete
  24. 1200 words isn't bad. And yea I do get a bit frustrated when life distracts me from writing. But then when I have all the time in the world I can't stop myself from procrastinating.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Yes, I do get frustrated by interruptions to my writing - esp. on nights when I can't write at all!!!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Every time I tell my friends I get up at 4:30, they say they never get up that early. I know! No one interrupts me at that hour :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Frustrated? You betca I get frustrated. Life gets in the way, but hey, you're right. . .we get to do some living while away from our computers. I find my writing time early in the morning. . .like 5 a.m. early! lol But, I love the quiet that comes while everyone else is sleeping.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I posted a huge 'please do not disturb' sign up on my door once, while I was in intense re-editing a novel but no one ever saw it. The parade of life just walks on in as probable fodder for ideas to another book down the road. It always amazed me how they never saw it. Sometimes they enter to say, its time to relax from it all and play.

    Author of The Greek Seaman.
    http://jacquelinehowett.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  29. Totally depends what the interruption is. I don't like to have MANY of them. I write at night though, so if every other month we had a party to go to, I could give it up. I can even minimize grumbling for watching my kids perform (typically sports)... for chauferring them? That makes me a little crabby... For out of town company... a night or two is okay, then I get twitchy...

    ReplyDelete
  30. Yes, I do hate when I have my time planned out and then Wham! something comes up. I like having a plan.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I did that too, Schmidty. How else are we supposed to stay awake AND look industrious? ;-P

    I feel like that too, Cherie... Although. I find that few things get my muse hopping so fast as lack of time.

    That's smart Chantele. I should set some time aside too. :-)

    Hahaha Nevets, in Afrikaans we say that we're so frustrated that someone can fry an egg on our foreheads. Can't get more frustrated than that. ;-)

    Laura, that sucks! The same happens with me. I write with music. Good. I like my music to drown out other sounds. Better. Family hates my taste in rock bands. Not good. Buy earphones. Better. Now keep getting dirty looks and nags because now they can't just shout at me to get my attention. Uhmm... yeah. Sort of the point. >_< Still, I love them.

    Haha D.U. I don't think it will, because people don't understand. Hmm! Maybe I should put up the following:

    WARNING: RABID WRITER AT WORK. WILL BITE IF INTERRUPTED.

    ;-)

    Karen that is so true! I'm checking mine as soon as I've posted this comment. :-) Thanks.

    Thanks Ann, you're right. Family, friends and God, then writing and work and then everything else. :-)

    Patti, I feel guilty too sometimes. It's terrible really, considering how much of our writing time we sacrifice. :-)

    Lol Kristina that is such a good description. Sometimes life whines too. >_<

    Crystal, I'm lyric-esque as well. Mainly sing choir, but am considering to take solo classes. Maybe then, I'll record something and link you. As for writing, I tried writing in my head once. Got really confusing very fast. My mind just runs away at a gallop if it doesn't have to cope with something as irksome as writing...:-)

    My sympathies, Michael. :-)

    That's great, J.L. I have to stick to going with the flow, because I become evil when I don't sleep enough. ;-)

    True Lesley. Every little bit helps. :-)

    Hahaha Lynda, that is so true!

    True, Carol. Getting out there is the best way to restock my creativity. :-)

    Lol Gary, sounds like a painful mistake to make. My brother has been a soprano a lot lately. He bought a black lab puppy that grew to hip height and realized that he never wants my brother to have children. ;-P

    Shannon, that makes perfect sense to me. Yesterday, I got so frustrated with myself because I struggled to write, so I created a distraction. :-)

    You know, Dr3am3r, you have a good motto. Someone also told me a quote that we suspect was said by Richard Branson: The only things I regret are those that I didn't get to do. It sums up my feelings exactly. But it does mean that I can get very busy very fast. :-)

    Colene, unplanned interruptions really suck. As supposed to plan interruptions (like grocery shopping) that only suck on normal levels. ;-)

    Nutty, I get it too. Something, then another thing and another and it's cousin pops up and at the end of the day, I'm stuck wondering where all those hours went. In fact, I'm starting to think some super-villain stole some hours. ;-)

    Hahaha Maria, I love singing, but generally speaking, it does not inspire my writing. My mind is too busy trying to turn the notes I hear into those I sing. Math on the other hand... ;-)

    Thanks Erica! :-)

    Sari that happens to me too. >_<

    Trisha, those are terrible. Nothing puts me out of sorts like being unable to write anything at all when I really want to.

    Lol Em. Brilliant. But I go nuclear at those hours, so I can't even immitate you. ;-)

    E.C., I bow to yours and Em's resillience. I would go bonkers in a fortnight. ;-)

    Haha Jacqueline, life is stubborn like that. :-)

    Hart, those types of interruptions also start the twitches with me... especially since no one grasps how serious I am about writing. :-)

    Wendy, I am always awed by people like you. <---- doesn't even plan for dinner. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  32. I love what you said at the end. We get to live. And when life is boring, we get to write. That's PERFECTION.

    And yeah, I'll admit, that sometimes I wish the mundane things of my life would just go away so I could write more. Like bathtime and cooking and cleaning and errands and stuff like that.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I agree with you there, Elana.

    Ugh, errands can take up sooooo much time. >_<

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting! I love to read what you think.

Feel free to ignore the check-box saying "Prove you're not a robot." My word verification is off, but I moderate comments to posts older than two weeks.