Been awhile since I've written...been awhile since I posted...been awhile since I laid in the sun and just kicked back and roasted (hey - it rhymes...I'm no poet)
Such is the life of the writer who also has to have one foot in the "real world". The Real World isn't just a show on MTV...sometimes it is a life-sucking reality from which there seems no escape. That is where writing comes in (at least for me...I guess for some, there is music, jogging, or mind altering substances).
What I have historically had trouble with, and I don't think I'm alone here, is in finding the time. Then again, maybe the time is there, and I just have to find the focus to devote that time to WRITING. For example, I find the time to miss very few pro football games (Go Titans!). Now, to my credit, I have managed to kick my TV and movie-junkie habits for the most part (except for football - Go Titans!).
Now, if I could just pull away from all video games. Yep, there...I said it. I'm a grown man, with kids and a job and a mortgage and all that rot, yet I still get pretty jazzed about blowing up starfighters or taking a sword and hacking up Orcs in some virtual world (Lately, it's been City of Heroes for those MMORPG-philes out there).
So, by the time I get finished with my daily grind and get home, hang with the kids, see the wife and finally retire to the study...what wins out...some mind numbing carnage on the 17-inch screen? Or a creative escape to a world of my own creation? Well, the right answer would be the latter, but the former often has an irresistible pull.
Here's a glimpse into my personal life...I try never to be whiny or self pitying and I don't want to bring a lot of angst to my blog. Having said that, get ready for the whiny, self-piteous angst....
Of late, my "real job" has been pretty stressful. I would daresay it has been getting in the way of my creativity. There are times it feels like all those folks I answer to at work basically set me on fire at 8:00 (sharp) and I just burn away until 5 or 6 when I finally escape to my house, extinguish the flames and do it all again the next morning. Why do I say all of this? To point out the fact that I have crept out of balance. I think balance is critical to a creative mind.
Balance doesn't mean hours and hours of writing time each day. That would be great, and Stephen King does it. So does R.A. Salvatore. You and me though? We have to steal it when we can (and they did too at one point in their lives). So, my compadre, we must seek balance. We have to work, and do well (so we keep getting our annual 2% merit increases - thanx corporate America! I'll be living the dream in 600 years!) We have to fulfill all of our other roles (Father, son, brother, husband, friend, wife, daughter...whatever you've got) and we have to do it all with a little reserve left to pour into our creative venture. It's not easy...I am no master, in fact, right now I need to adjust the balance some. Does it mean I quit my job, sequester myself away from the wife and kids and ignore my folks? Nah....I take less responsibility at work, as much as I can afford. I enlist my wife's aid so that my time with the kids is quality time. After they hit the sack, I give her a kiss, make sure she is happy and well adjusted and then I have to force myself to write...maybe a word, maybe a sentence, maybe a paragraph, page or chapter. The point is, keep a little back from "old man world" and save it for yourself (and us - your future readers). Write...write...write...later, we will get it right!
JG
Ah well, you know it all comes down to one word: priorities.
Darn.
Posted by: Vikk | July 20, 2004 at 10:42 PM