Time is such a funny concept.
About a million years ago, there was daytime and nighttime. That was it. It didn't really matter what hour of the day it was, so long as you did the daytime things while there was light, and you accomplished the things NOT requiring light when it was nighttime.
I guess at some point somebody needed to know precisely which hour of the day it was--maybe to make sure there actually were twenty-four of them. So, to keep track of time, clocks were invented. It gave us a sense of mastery over time, since we had smooshed it into a box and given it a face with Roman numerals on it--all so we could verify which hour we were using at the precise moment we used it.
Imagine the luxury of compressing time into a pocketwatch, or a wristwatch, so that all the minutes and hours of the day could be transported wherever you went. That invention gave time even more prominence, because now we constantly consult the clock to see how little time we have left to finish an important task, or before we dash off for an appointment. At work, we watch the clock, wishing it would zoom through the hours so we could go home sooner. We glare at our watch while sitting in a traffic jam, blaming the timekeeper for making everything stand still when we need to rush instead.
Our constant awareness of time has guaranteed there is always too much, and not enough, all at once.
I try to make the best use of my time, because I want to ensure that my writing is given the highest priority, every single day. Sometimes the best use of my writing time is first thing in the morning, while other days it is in the wee hours when my brain should be fast asleep.
The tricky part is I don't always know where that sweet spot of writing time will be. It's like a floating poker game, in a different place each day, with only a short advance notice as to the new location. I just try to stay on my toes and pick up clues so I'm ready when it's time.
Another thorny problem is this: I'm not exactly sure how to measure time anymore. A writing task that I'm sure will take only a few minutes ends up consuming several hours. Something I keep delaying because it will gobble up an entire day is over in less time than it takes to complain about it.
The one thing I know for sure is I treasure having the chance to devote time to writing.
Yes, I grumble when the characters go on strike. I shriek and clutch at my hair when the words get stuck in the back of my brain. I even convince myself it would be less painful to eat two huge bowls of half-cooked brussels sprouts than to do one more round of revisions.
Yet, even on the toughest of days, I can't think of a better way to fill the hours. Writing stories of love and romance and humor--this is how I want to spend my time.
Donna - Time is so slippery and I often look at the years of my life and wonder how I could have wasted so many. Of course I never cared about time until recently.
Writing gave me an acute sense of time. Since I started, there are never enough hours in the day.
Posted by: Kari Marie | March 28, 2011 at 07:49 AM
Kari Marie, it IS slippery, isn't it? LOL I spent a lot of my younger years wishing time would go faster, because I was impatient to go do the things I wanted. But now I wish it would slow down a bit--well, unless I'm doing revisions. LOL That's when time really does drag. :)
But we definitely need more writing hours in each day.
Posted by: Donna Cummings | March 28, 2011 at 08:58 AM
Great post! "Time" might be my favorite topic...or at least one I spend the most time (ha ha) thinking about. Like Kari, I think writing gives me an acute sense of time. It's usually one of the main themes for my stories too!
I think it's interesting too about finding the "right" time to write. Recently I read the "famous" passage of Nathaniel Hawthorne's time to write. (It's amazing how many famous things I've never heard of before! lol) Hawthorne wrote that "moonlight, in a familiar room, falling so white upon the carpet, and showing all its figures so distinctly, -- making every object so minutely visible, yet so unlike a morning or noontide visibility, -- is a medium the most suitable for a romance writer to get acquainted with his illusive guests."
In the context of this, he sort of complains about not having this sort of time to write while working as a Custom House Surveyer. Then shortly later (the next year), he produced The Scarlet Letter. :)
Posted by: Melissa | March 28, 2011 at 09:40 AM
I'm still trying to figure out a way to hoard the time I've spent procrastinating. Wouldn't that be cool? Save the wasted time for later? Haven't figured that out yet, unfortunately. ;-)
Posted by: Liz Fichera | March 28, 2011 at 09:51 AM
Melissa, that may be famous but I've never heard of it either! And Nathaniel's a New Englander like I am. Thanks for sharing that--now *I* want that same atmosphere for when I'm writing.
"Illusive guests" is a great description too. You've inspired me today! As usual. :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | March 28, 2011 at 09:52 AM
Liz, you're brilliant! If you invent something like that, I'd definitely pay top dollar. Because I'm sure I've got about 20 years' worth of writing time that was used for procrastination purposes. LOL
Posted by: Donna Cummings | March 28, 2011 at 09:54 AM
What I find interesting is how when the writing is going well, time disappears and suddenly, hours are gone. When it's going bad, time goes too fast and there is a sense of not getting anything done!
I'd rather the first example...
Posted by: Maureen | March 28, 2011 at 11:07 AM
Maureen, I love when time disappears like that, when you slip into that zone. :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | March 28, 2011 at 11:51 AM
Oh, so true. Only another writer can understand the wily nature of time.
My husband (who is incredibly supportive, don't get me wrong) will sometimes ask:
"How much did you get done today?"
He is making conversation, not checking up on me. And yet.
My throat constricts when I have to say I actually created NO. New. Pages. But I came up with a plot twist that will be amazing (I think); or I edited an entire chapter that had been bugging me and notquiteright; Or I read and read and read in the hopes of bettering my craft by taking in someone else's beautiful words.
Yep. "Writing Time" is wrinkled. But oh, so wonderful. (most of the time...)
Posted by: julie | March 30, 2011 at 10:30 AM
Julie, you are so right about "wily" time. I don't exactly know how to quantify the writing time that LOOKS like I'm just staring out the window--with no actual words showing up on the computer screen until a couple days later. Then all of a sudden the keyboard is on fire.
It's all connected, but sometimes I forget that. So yeah, I do feel guilty or apologetic when trying to answer, "So, did you write today?" :)
Posted by: Donna Cummings | March 30, 2011 at 10:50 AM