I’ll admit it. I can get lost on my computer, typing away, playing with my characters, chatting it up on Face Book and Twitter. The computer is so addictive. It calls to me with plot ideas and woos me with the ease of doing research. Meanwhile, dishes sit in the sink and laundry piles up high in baskets. Clutter is a writer’s worse enemy!
Well Spring is here, and I’m trying to balance cleaning and organizing with my writing. My husband helps out a lot, but we both work and we both hate to clean. I’ve actually started bribing myself with computer time in exchange for cleaning time. It worked rather well today, I got a lot done, and now I don’t feel a bit guilty about spending some quality time with my rewrites and jotting out this blog. It seems silly that I need to use the reward system at my age! LOL My husband has some reorganizing plans of his own, although he’s more the type to get through a project quickly, rather than to break it up it chunks the way I like to.
The best part about it, I really do feel like it’s still a treat to write. I know writers who burn themselves out, or get blocked, and I often wonder if it’s because they’ve allowed their writing to turn into work. They’ve stopped reading. They’ve stopped creating. It’s all about the deadline, because without it, there’s no food on the table. While I know it’s important to have goals, so there’s something to strive for, I can’t imagine allowing myself to be under that much pressure, where it’s no longer fun anymore. I couldn’t do that to myself. I admire writers who are talented enough to pay their bills strictly with their published works, but I think it would be very difficult too. No matter where I am in my life, I always hope that I am able to write for the joy of writing, that the pleasure I get from a well-written phrase is my reward, and anything else is just a bonus.
JH
JULI HOFFMAN 
My hubby won’t let me store things in suitcases! I keep trying and he keeps moving it!
Yep, I know exactly what you mean about the writing with deadlines. I am on the verge of that with other things. That’s part of why I am happy to just be a second string ho-hum not-so-famous writer, that way it can be for the fun of it instead of having to be a job we depend on.
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I figure suitcases are designed to hold the clothes in and keep the moths out, so it works out pretty well. (Besides, I’m a sucker for vintage just about anything. The word “vintage is so much nicer sounding than the word “used.”)
As far as being “second-string,” that sounds OK by me! I’m plenty fine with being a little nobody fish. I like things like sick days, health insurance, paid vacation days, and 401k. You don’t get these perks when you’re a full time writer. I often wonder what happens to the ones that are if something bad happens and there’s nothing to fall back on. That really scares me. Being afraid would really take the joy out of my writing too! 😉
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