Stealing Writing Time
Yesterday, my pastor’s sermon topic was on tools to becoming a more godly parent. Needless to say, if I’d known ahead of time this is what the topic was going to be, I probably would have saved myself the hassle of getting out in the pouring rain and 40 mph wind and slept in. (Okay, I did enjoy the music part of the service and was glad to be there for the fellowship of friends.) So I spent the twenty-five minutes of the sermon time brainstorming the next couple of chapters of Menu for Romance, while still listening to why parents shouldn’t let their boys take lessons from Flava-Flave on how to treat women, nor allow their girls to take behavior and fashion lessons from Paris Hilton.
This made me think about all of the places and events where I’ve “stolen” writing time. Three years ago, just before the 2005 Nashville ACFW conference, I took Rachel Hauck and Susan May Warren to the Bluebird Cafe for writers’ night. Rachel was researching her Nashville-set chick lit novels, and Susie and I were along for the fun. While we were sitting there enjoying the music as performed by the people who originally penned it (not the people who recorded it), I dug down into my purse for a pen and grabbed the stack of napkins (yes, paper napkins!) from the middle of the table and started writing. I’d been so extremely busy for weeks preparing for the conference (this was back when I was VP of ACFW) that I hadn’t had a chance to get any writing done . . . and I had a full revision of my thesis novel due in about five weeks and needed to rewrite at least the first three chapters. I enjoyed the music, had a good time with Rachel and Susie, and got about five napkins covered with the new opening scene of my novel (what’s now Stand-In Groom), which was probably the only writing I got done in about a two week span of time.
A few months before that, I’d gone to Baton Rouge for Memorial Day weekend to attend a family wedding. While there, my cousin and his wife were giving a concert at my grandmother’s church’s Saturday night “cowboy” church (dinner, Southern Gospel music, a short sermon). We were still seated at the long table, which had been covered with white butcher paper. Shortly after the music started, I once again dug for a pen in my purse (I always have four or five with me). A few weeks before, I’d written the opening chapter to an idea for a historical novel to submit for workshop critiques at school. I’d been cogitating on the ideas for the characters for a while, but I wasn’t sure exactly where the story was going. So I started brainstorming ideas right there on the tablecloth! By the end of the evening, I ended up taking home a two-foot by three-foot section of butcher paper where I clearly outlined the two directions I could take the story—either Julia could stow-away on William’s ship or she could make a business arrangement with him where they would marry so she could return to Jamaica aboard his ship. I wrote notes for both scenarios and the pros and cons of each. When I returned to Nashville, I knew exactly which decision Julia was supposed to make and moved ahead with writing Ransome’s Honor. (Yes, I was writing RH while in revisions on HEI/SIG.)
And yet I still seem to waste so much time that could be given over to writing . . .
What are some instances of time you’ve “stolen” from another activity or event to write?
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KayeDacus.com 
As bad as this sounds, but I do some great brainstorming in church. Ideas just seem to come, or solutions to my problems 😀
At work. While others waste time talking with each other, I waste time writing down ideas or even passages. I get more solutions to problems at work than anywhere else. I can get more done in a day at work (writing wise) than a whole free weekend day 😀
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Oh Kaye, I’ve stolen time to write in restaurants, in the middle of church, middle of prayer, before going to bed…
That was a fun night at the Bluebird. I’ve been back four more times. Love it!
Rachel
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I tend to steal great blocks of time from my life…run away to the library mostly. But I’ve had ideas hit in church, during a movie, waiting in the dr’s office.
Since I have a three hour upcoming dental appt to replace some crowns…maybe I’ll be able to plot a whole new book while in the chair! That is, if I can relax long enough to think of anything besides EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!
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Erica–I came up with the characters and plot for my third novel, Love Remains, while having an MRI done on my back five years ago!
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Morning prayer time is when I really have to watch it. It’s normal for me to pray about the work for the day, which invariably leads me to thinking about the work for the day, and the scene, and the dialogue, and the characters’ emotions and by that time they’re jabbering away inside my head and I’m snatching for scrap paper and pen.
Ten minutes later I remember I’m meant to be reading the word and in prayer, and firmly put those other voices aside for a bit. 🙂
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Kaye,
I’ve never had an MRI, but plenty of CT scans. There you are, forced to lie still while they slide you through and the red laser thingie does its work. It’s a perfect time for inspiration to strike… other than not being able to write it all down on the spot.
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I usually snatch some time while waiting for my teen daughter’s events to finish, usually in the car with noisy tots in the backseat. I’ve done a lot of writing in the car, come to think of it. On my next job app I’m listing transportation as my last position.
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I was folding clothes over the weekend, and lo and behold a scene dropped into my head. Like a good little girl I abandoned the clothes and promptly wrote it down. But I did go back and finish folding my clothes!
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I always have a small notebook with me. Waiting at a stoplight, I will jot down a few ideas or phrases. I’ve pulled over to the side of the interstate, and turned into parking spaces. Just the other night I jotted ideas on three paper napkins at the restaurant.
I suppose I steal time to write whenever I can.
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