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My day jobs versus my writing process
Apr. 23rd, 2011 04:58 pmThis feels almost like it should be prefaced with "Film at 11."
Before I took my last day job, I had something approaching laser focus when I sat down to write. Or at least that was what it felt like inside my head. I could sit down at the computer and pain and exhaustion levels permitting, turn on my writing music and just write for hours at a stretch. This was more of a problem on bad tendinitis or migraine days, of course, but apart from that, most of my fiction has been written this way. Since I'm also a pantser there's no outlining for me. I just start at the beginning of a story in progress by way of rewriting and pound away. Okay, sometimes the process is prefaced by a short round or two computer mahjong. So sue me.
The last year seems to have changed that pattern. Most of my jobs have traditionally taken up about 65-75% of my mental bandwidth. I test software so there are down times as well as full speed ahead times on jobs so it's been possible for me to work around that. This time around though, I had a big team to manage and a very high speed business-critical, massively dysfunctional project to deal with. And it ate my brain. All of it, without exception. Granted that I still finished rewriting Silver Moon and got an agent query out the door and co-edited Hellebore and Rue while working this job, I haven't written anything new in months. This has never happened before and I can't say I like it.
Into the now and the less dysfunctional day job where I'm being told no overtime and no taking stuff home, which by this point feels heavenly. However, my focus isn't the way it used to be. For over a year, I've been multitasking my way through unfamiliar technology and constantly shifting demands and timelines with no down time. Suddenly I'm writing new stories again. On my netbook in front of the TV while talking to my wife and answering emails on my Phone. I'm averaging over 1000 words a week again, which is great, but I want my old creative flow back and I don't know that that's going to happen. I'm worried that I broke my focus and won't get it back but it looks like time will tell on that.
How about you other writers out there? Have you ever had a day job impact your process this way? Did it change back?
Before I took my last day job, I had something approaching laser focus when I sat down to write. Or at least that was what it felt like inside my head. I could sit down at the computer and pain and exhaustion levels permitting, turn on my writing music and just write for hours at a stretch. This was more of a problem on bad tendinitis or migraine days, of course, but apart from that, most of my fiction has been written this way. Since I'm also a pantser there's no outlining for me. I just start at the beginning of a story in progress by way of rewriting and pound away. Okay, sometimes the process is prefaced by a short round or two computer mahjong. So sue me.
The last year seems to have changed that pattern. Most of my jobs have traditionally taken up about 65-75% of my mental bandwidth. I test software so there are down times as well as full speed ahead times on jobs so it's been possible for me to work around that. This time around though, I had a big team to manage and a very high speed business-critical, massively dysfunctional project to deal with. And it ate my brain. All of it, without exception. Granted that I still finished rewriting Silver Moon and got an agent query out the door and co-edited Hellebore and Rue while working this job, I haven't written anything new in months. This has never happened before and I can't say I like it.
Into the now and the less dysfunctional day job where I'm being told no overtime and no taking stuff home, which by this point feels heavenly. However, my focus isn't the way it used to be. For over a year, I've been multitasking my way through unfamiliar technology and constantly shifting demands and timelines with no down time. Suddenly I'm writing new stories again. On my netbook in front of the TV while talking to my wife and answering emails on my Phone. I'm averaging over 1000 words a week again, which is great, but I want my old creative flow back and I don't know that that's going to happen. I'm worried that I broke my focus and won't get it back but it looks like time will tell on that.
How about you other writers out there? Have you ever had a day job impact your process this way? Did it change back?