A Writer's Point of View

Springtime in my garden

As I mentioned in my last post, my netbook used to be very portable. I wrote wherever I felt like, on a couch, in the car, outside in a lounge chair. Since my battery is now defunct and my netbook is jury rigged into a permanent position with duct tape, I have only one place to write, and one view to see. It’s a pretty view out my back window with birch and spruce and cherry trees (that will blossom soon – I demand it! I’m tired of gray). But it got me thinking about where people choose to do their writing. And that got me to thinking about how, with everyone's crazy schedules, people can carve out space and time to write. I think I’m trying to give myself a pep talk here that writing and life together are possible, so I hope you don’t mind if I share a few anecdotes and observations about such things (in no particular order).

Jane Austen

Jane Austen composed many her masterpieces on the original kind of laptop, a portable slanted writing desk with an interior area to hold papers and writing supplies. I suppose I’d always imagined her working on her brilliantly witty dialogues undisturbed in a quiet room, but according to this website, she was anything but alone when she wrote.

Courtesy of the Jane Austen Museum

“[S]he had no separate study to retire to, and most of the work must have been done in the general sitting-room, subject to all kinds of casual interruptions. She was careful that her occupation should not be suspected by servants, or visitors, or any persons beyond her own family party. She wrote upon small sheets of paper which could easily be put away, or covered with a piece of blotting paper. There was, between the front door and the offices, a swing door which creaked when it was opened; but she objected to having this little inconvenience remedied, because it gave her notice when anyone was coming.”

Who knew that Jane Austen faced interruptions just like so many of us? And who knew that she was so secretive about her writing? Do any of you Austen aficionados know if this was because of the impropriety of a woman writing, a reticence for anyone to see early drafts or something else?

My Family

For over 50 years my grandmother wrote and published delightful children’s stories both in books and children’s magazines (she was a regular contributor to Highlights for Children). Later in life she was honored as a poet laureate of her state. I’ve always found it interesting that she did her best writing of these sweet stories in the dead of night in a little pitch-roofed attic room overlooking a golf course and a cemetery.

Food of the gods

My sister is a playwright. Each year she writes, choreographs, produces and directs an elementary school Broadway-like musical with over 100 children participating (she is simply, unbelievably amazing). She writes most of her plays in her car in between shuttling her kids from one sports practice to another. When she finds a (rare) few hours free she locks herself in the spare bedroom with a supply of chocolate covered cinnamon bears (if you haven’t tried these, you must – pure ambrosia) and binge writes.

Even though my sister and my grandmother’s writing schedules are about as opposite as can be, I’m inspired because they each found what worked for them and ran with it.

Shannon Hale

One of my favorite authors, Shannon Hale, has not only written some fabulous books (just finished Midnight in Austenland – superb), but on her blog she has also been very candid about what it takes for her to juggle life, motherhood, and writing.  As a mother of four (including twin toddlers) she’s so busy that she probably couldn’t find the time to write if she wanted to, so instead she makes the time. From her blog:

Oh man, I am so sapped. I am a Vermont maple in winter... Finding time to bathe and feed myself is an uphill battle every day. I had a couple of visitors coming over this morning, so I worked so hard to clean my kitchen and living room, trying to keep kiddos entertained for 3 hours while I cleaned non-stop between caring for their needs. And when my visitors came in, I looked around and realized that I had achieved Normal Messy, no more.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, I'm in no shape to be dolling out advice. I barely survive. I'm sure you know what I mean. This marvelous, marvelous chaos. But my center is my creative time. For 2 1/2 hours four times a week, I have a babysitter, and I close my door and write. Turn off the mommy craziness, turn on Writer Woman. It's not an easy transition, but I have to do it. I just have to.

Wow, she sounds so – human. And yet because of her discipline, in those mere ten hours of writing a week, she publishes at least one book every year (oh, and the movie for Austenland is in post production – squee!).

Wrap Up
 

 Henry David Thoreau said,  "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

I used to think that there would be a magical point in my life where I would suddenly be endowed with time to accomplish Important Things. Maybe I could go on a pilgrimage of enlightenment like Thoreau (I like trees, after all, and cute little cabins in the woods). The conclusion I’ve come to, though, is that the choices I’ve made over the years have put me on a path where the essential things of my life aren’t found in solitude, but in the here and now of everyday life with family and friends. And that if I want to live deliberately in my goals to be a writer (or whatever else), it’ll have to be with them along for the ride. With Jane Austen and Shannon Hale and Sheena and MaryAnn and Sabrina and Sarah and Melanie, I think I’m in some pretty good company, in trying to figure out this balancing act.

~ Susan