"Some days, you laugh and smile much more than others.”
“Do I?”
“Yes. You’ve not been laughing much the past few days.”
“I haven’t?”
It’s not uncommon for your nearest and dearest to notice things about you that have quite slipped past You, as the Main Protagonist. On pondering this announcement upon me the other day, I realised what the non-smiling issue was. We had been busy. With Life. Which meant, I hadn’t had time to write for a few days. Lightbulb moment: those days were the Non-Smiling ones.
So, you say. Happiness is the key to good life, if happiness equals writing then dammit write. Not so easy. Ditching the latest draft because the kids need homework help or chauffeuring or feeding or playing with, or because your other half is looking like a squashed banana skin because you ‘haven’t had the time’ to sit and enjoy their company for the past three days – now that’s a worthwhile ditch.
But then there’s the Non-Smiling issue.
Writers without writing time are a bit like border collies kept in an apartment. They go a tad nuts.
So how does one get round this?
I haven’t found the answer, but I have noticed that as long as I work like hell whenever I get the chance, I feel less dreadful during the time I can’t. It’s when I stuff up when there’s time available that the Non-Smiling really kicks in. Kicking in as in, kicking myself, probably.
What do you do when Stuff gets in the way of Fiction?