by
Janis Patterson
I try to write every day. Not
because some writing guru or bestselling writer says it’s the only way to write or because it’s the ‘technique du jour’ or because it is
reputed to guarantee sales or because of any other fanciful explanation. I try
to write every day because the more I write, the more books I finish and
(hopefully!) the more money I make.
Some things, however, supersede
sales, and yes, even money. Not many, I will admit, but family tops the list. I
can always catch up on my word count. The book will still be finished if I fall
a little behind. The world will not end, no matter what an editor might say, if
I miss a deadline.
Now I’m not talking about taking a
nephew to a soccer game or going to lunch with an aunt… those are ordinary
everyday things that should be scheduled around your work, just as if you
worked in an office or in a factory. Just imagine telling your boss you had to
leave because you had to chauffeur a kid to a game! It is just the same if you
write – nothing changes just because you’re the boss. You work for yourself
just as surely as if you worked for a multi-national corporation, and you
should have the same attitude towards work. You are both boss and employee.
One of my favorite sayings is that
when you work for yourself you might work 23 hours a day, but at least you get
to choose which 23!
There are times, though, when all
the rules go out the window. Family need trumps career every time. My beloved
sister-in-law has gone into the hospital for a total knee replacement. She is a
widow – my brother passed away almost a decade ago – and her children all live
more than a fair distance away. I’m almost through with a book – two weeks
dedicated work will get it finished, with a half-finished one and a completed
one waiting to grow cold for editing in the to-be-done queue, but at the moment
they’re off the table. My sis-in-law needed someone to drive her to the
hospital at zero-dark-thirty in the morning, and I was not going to let her go
into surgery alone. No, I didn’t go into the operating theatre, fascinating as
it would have been – I stayed in the waiting room. I firmly believe, however,
that no one should awake from anesthesia alone.
So – two days without writing. My
career will survive, and if it doesn’t, my family is more important. I can
catch up, though, and with a clear conscience. Besides, I firmly believe that
90% of writing is done between the ears – the keyboarding part is mainly
mechanical – and I can think anywhere. At least, I could try, if my fellow
denizens of the surgical waiting room would not keep the TV at a level
somewhere between foghorn and earthquake!
My sister-in-law will go directly to rehab
after a couple of days in the hospital, and when she eventually comes home her
children will have taken time off from work and traveled down in turn to stay
with her until she’s strong enough to return to her regular life. Plus, I’m
just a phone call away.
If she wants to go to a soccer
game, though, she’s going to have to drive herself. Because I am a very stern
boss, I’ll be working.
