I’ve written a version of this post a few other times in the past couple years. Why? Because finding time to write is always an issue for me. I assume it’s an issue for most writers. Most of us have a full-time job or kids or both (yikes). I work in advertising, which is fairly demanding and stressful, depending on the account and time of year. Right now, I’m on one of our agency’s most intense accounts and we’re in the middle of the most insane time of year. And I’ve had some difficult personal things going on. Fun!. With all of this happening, I’m also well-aware that I need to get moving on my next book.
I started writing a novel when I was waiting on edits for PEOPLE WHO KNEW ME (release date is just about 6 months away–ahh!). Somehow, I finished the first draft. How this happens is always a complete mystery to me. I rarely have several hours during a single day to sit and write, so I have to settle for a half hour here and a half hour there. And, somehow, in that mysterious way, a book gets written. Anyway, it still needs work (of course), but at least I have the guts down on paper.
The thing is, I have other books I’ve written in the past that I may want to revisit. My goal is to present my agent and publisher with a synopsis and sample chapters for each of my books. Then they can choose what gets to be The Second Book. I’m fully prepared for them to say, “Um, we’ll pass on all of these, thanks.” See, people say, “Think positive” and I say, “I’m positive that I’m much better at preparing for the worst.” Don’t worry, my husband is a total optimist; I’m just balancing him out.
It’s very challenging to write a good synopsis. It’s almost easier to write an entire freaking novel. Almost. Maybe I should do a post entitled “How to write a good synopsis.” Oh wait, I have no idea what to say on that subject. This is probably a problem. What I’m saying is I’ve got my work cut out for me. And I have very, very, very little free time.
I was sorting through some articles I’d ripped out of Poets & Writers magazine (I keep them in a binder like a total nerd), and I stumbled upon a profile of Elizabeth Gilbert. She talks about her novel, The Signature of All Things, which is one of my very favorite books of the last 10 years. It’s one of those books that makes you think, “Man, how did she accomplish this?” It’s one of those books that intimidates as much as it impresses. She says, “This is a book I couldn’t have written at any other time in my life. I’ve written books where I had two part-time jobs at the same time–bartending and waiting tables as well as working in a bookstore. I’ve written books when I was going through a divorce. But during the three years I spent researching this book, that was all I was doing.” Considering the epic-ness of the book, that makes sense.
She goes on:
“Melville wrote a letter to Hawthorne saying he longed for ‘the calm, the coolness, the silent grass-growing mood in which a man ought always to compose,’ but that he could rarely attain it because he was ‘so pulled hither and thither by circumstances.’ It’s the fantasy of every writer to have that kind of time.”
Yes, a fantasy. For most writers, it’s rarely a reality. Gilbert has been extremely successful so she has the luxury of dedicating most of her life to her books, as long as her personal circumstances cooperate (note: she doesn’t have children). I have no idea if I’ll ever have that luxury, which is why I can’t imagine writing a book like The Signature of All Things. For now, I’ll just keep on keepin’ on, patching together half-hours of creative bursts until things get done. This weekend: Start my synopses.