Today marks the one-month anniversary of my marathon-writing weekend. And I realize I have not written a single new word on my manuscript since then. Not one … stinking … weed.
Did I say weed?
Gardening season hit, and I’ve ignored everything but getting the ground ready and planted. Kind of my marathon-gardening month. Then I’ll ignore it for a month, until I realize I’ve got to catch up on all the weeds.
I love gardening as much as I love writing. They are both creative endeavors, a chance to put something on paper or in the ground and watch the leaves of a story unfold. But to be successful at either takes discipline. It takes visiting pretty much every day. If I were to spend a half hour weeding just 20 square feet of space every day – that’s a four by five foot area – I’d have weeded my entire garden in a month. (Yes, I have an enormous garden.) If I write 2000 words every day, I’ll have finished a rough draft of a novel in a month.
You do the math. A novel in a month. Give myself another month to polish it, and that would be six novels a year. Even if I took two months to polish it, that would be four books a year. Pretty amazing stuff. Most days, if I sit my butt in the chair and write, I can crank out 2000 good words in about 3 or 4 hours. That’s less time than a part-time job. And I want writing to be my job.
So from here on out, I will visit my creative landscapes. I will weed a little bit every day. And I will write a little bit every day. Between the two, I will have the best year of growth ever.
Weed 'em and reap!
Okay, when you put it like that, getting a book finished doesn't seem that daunting. I love your title, Weeding, Writing, and Arithmetic. You write so beautifully when relating to your garden. Consider writing an article on this subject. I'm sure there are tons of gardening writers out there. After all, we're kind of an artistic lot. Great post.
ReplyDeleteBoone
Gosh, you so totally NAIL the bliss of this time of year. And to add writing, well, what can I say? I'm pushing the envelope, the snapdragons are hitting the ground today. I'll brain-storm the new book while I deal with the everpresent chickweed.
ReplyDeleteTami,
ReplyDeleteI love your voice! You have such a way with words and your view of writing and gardening is unique from my perspective. Now to figure out how to be one of your followers. If I can't figure it out myself today, I'll add it to my technical skills list and know by next Friday.