Tag Archives: career

Morning Glory.

My mornings are sacred.

There used to be a time (we’ll call it “college”) where I considered myself a night owl. Classes were carefully chosen to start much later in the morning, if not in the afternoon, and I was a closer at my job, sometimes not getting home until two in the morning. And then I would still do stuff after that. Eventually, I got out of college and got on a regular schedule, but, even then, it was staying up until one. That’s when the Easling Pool hit. The Easling Pool is the aquatic center of the Grand Traverse Civic Center in Traverse City, Michigan, and I was hired to do some clerical and customer service work there. This required being at the pool bright and early at five o’clock to make sure everything was ready for the early birds who came in at five thirty to get in their laps before the work day. Fast forward about two years later, and I still get up at five o’clock nearly every morning (today was six o’clock, since I was out celebrating a friend’s timely new job until two in the morning, a rarity for me!), and it works out pretty well. My friends and coworkers kind of boggle at how soon I go to bed and how early in the morning I get up, but maybe Ben Franklin was onto something with that whole “early to bed, early to rise” thing.

My roommate is definitely one for sleeping in when she can. She’s also the type that can get up and be ready for work in half an hour; I am the complete opposite and need an extra hour to oh-so-slightly curl my hair. Needless to say, since she doesn’t usually get up until eight on a weekday (and later on weekends), I have the mornings all to myself, and it’s glorious. I do my best work in that chunk of hours, when the day is getting started. Sometimes, I can manage to continue after its been interrupted, but, more often than not, my focus leaves me and I can get a little more work done, but it’s between house work and talk radio.

Still, those morning hours are invaluable to me. Usually, when I work in the afternoon, I don’t have the same motivation and drive to work on my writing like I do first thing in the morning, but I am getting better at that, especially since, lately, writing is all I want to do. Have you ever gotten to that crazy level where your friends plan something and all you can think is, “Man! That’s going to cut into some valuable writing time!”? I’ve been having some moments like that lately. All I want to do is work on my little system that allows me to write and read. It’s fantastic.

But it’s also a little strange. Sometimes, because writing is my passion and what I love to do, I feel guilty about the time I allot to it. I’m sure some of that guilt might be lifted once Bowlful of Bunnies is actually posted and in the market, but there’s a little voice in the back of my head right now that’s trying to tell me I should be doing more productive things with my morning. I’m pleased that this voice is lately encountered with a swift reply of, “What could possibly be more productive?” but there’s always that niggling doubt that this is all just a big waste of time.

This is my dream, my passion, and it’s coming together, especially in those glorious hours of the morning where I can really focus and get my work done. And the fact that I feel a desire to have those morning hours last all day help me believe that I’m definitely on the right track.

When are your sacred hours, when the craft really strikes and you feel that inspiration and that strong conviction that things are finally coming together? Do you often get the doubt creeping in on you that threatens to abolish that conviction? I’ve sat here and rambled at you for a good bit, so feel free to ramble back!

I’d also like to thank circles under street lights for being my latest follower! Thanks for reading the blog! Great to have you with us.

Writer Quotes: Roth.

“Eight hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, that’s the only way I know how to do it.”-Philip Roth.

We’ve all heard the advice often given to fledgling, wanna-be writers that the only way to go about turning writing into your career is to treat it like a career, an idea mirrored in this quote by Philip Roth. Naturally, I’ve always wanted to be a writer, and if I can manage to even be successful in the endeavor, even better. Lately, especially, I have been mooning over the idea of turning writing into my main career. I know the days spent away from my quote-unquote real job, the days spent working on my craft, are easily the happiest days I’ve had lately. Being able to make enough money off of my writing to live comfortable would be a dream come true. And I always reason with myself that I’m really not even making that much money at my current job, so it’s not even as if breaking even should be too difficult.

But writing is a job, and that’s the key factor to keep in mind. It’s something one must dedicate herself to if she hopes to be successful, just as with anything in life. Oh, sure, sometimes, there’s a bit of luck involved, but nothing will happen if you don’t have something for it happen with. You’ll just be a boat in the middle of the lake without a paddle without the hard work, the effort, the honing, the marketing, the schmoozing, the promotion. Opportunity can’t knock if you don’t have the door.

Even better, we’re now living in a time where the face of writing is changing. There are more avenues available to writers today with the easy access to digital publishing and independent publications. Now is the time, but nothing is going to happen if one continues to keep pandering and treating writing like a hobby rather than a career. I’ve made a decision to start treating my writing more like my actual job; the actual job, that can be the hobby. Because, dammit, I’m a writer.

I know my biggest failing in this respect is my attention span; I have a bad habit of needing to juggle a lot and being unable to sit still for more than a paragraph unless the mood really hits me. So, inspired by Roth’s quote, allow me to pose a question: What gets you in an 8-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, 365-days-a-year mood? What motivates you to really sit your butt down and work, work, work? I’m thinking, maybe on my days off, of having my roommate handcuff my ankle to my chair and take the key with her to work so there’s no escape until she gets home, but that might be…a little extreme.

And, hey, a big thank you heading toward brain splats for subscribing to the blog! Welcome aboard, and good to have you with us!

Yesterday was one of those days that show up and make me realized exactly how much I want to be a writer. After a long, stressful weekend pushing the sales market, it felt so incredibly fulfilling to just spend a day, working on my craft, writing up a storm, maintaining the housework, and reading through a few books. It was perfect, productive, and exactly the way I would love to spend the rest of my days. It was filled with a feeling of despair that, in the morning, I would have to get up, forgo the long hours of writing and reading to go to my actual job and do actual work that, while I do enjoy it, can be stressful and irritating and not nearly as fun. It’s not too bad; I do intend to boot up the laptop and get right back to work when I get home, but the fact that the long stretch is not there puts a slight damper on things.

To be able to spend most (if not all!) my days just creating and working toward building my stories and getting them ready for the world seems like such an incredible dream. The best thing about it, too, is that it’s completely reachable. I just have to keep my eye on that glorious feeling of writing for a living, earning some income off of what I do, but it’s not going to happen unless I make it happen.

There are two more days until NaNoWriMo is officially off my hands; I’ve got my eye on the price and only have 10k to day…5k today, 5k tomorrow, and considering I did 5k yesterday, it’s a completely achievable goal and I will get there. And, once I do, it’s time to turn my attention back to my short stories, back to getting those out there and in the world, and taking just a few steps closer to achieving that dream.

Just some random, encouraging thoughts for the morning as I bolster myself to get through the Day Job.