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Articles 6:15 I get up and shower, then click on the computer and check my messages, update my blog, and wander around the Internet for a while. 7:00 I actually start working. Pull up current work-in-progress, look it over, realize how hideously awful it is. Grit teeth and start making changes. I like to edit and write new pages in the same span of time—when I get bored with writing new scenes, or run out of inspiration (something that happens all too frequently), I can go back and edit. Sometimes I work on more than one WIP at once. 7:30 Oldest two children (both girls) get out of bed and go downstairs to watch “Dragontales.” Three-year-old boy continues to sleep. 7:45 Girls begin fighting (and, being girls, yelling very loudly). I run down the stairs and threaten them with horrible, agonizing punishments if they wake their brother. They meekly go back to watching television. 8:00 Girls want breakfast. I ask oldest child to make breakfast for both. She whines pitifully about being forced to serve her younger sister (“You always make me do all the work!”) but does agree to help me out. Cereal is poured. Some actually gets into the bowl. The rest forms a towering pile on the counter and floor, where I will try to remember to clean it off later. 8:30 Both girls are fed and showered (they are now both old enough to take their own showers, for which I am extremely grateful). 9:00 Girls have entertained themselves in the playroom for some time (they have a very complex game going up there right now that keeps them fairly busy for long periods). I hear the three-year-old banging happily around in his room, ricocheting off the walls, and realize I’d better get him up before he manages to destroy the furniture. Writing is over for the morning, since my office doesn’t have a view of the backyard, and I do not own a laptop. The kids head off for the yard, and Mommy watches the three-year-old like a hawk as he trots around outside. The usual mom-type stuff (occasional trips to the library, lunch, arguments, minor injuries) follows. 3:00 Son heads upstairs for his nap with only token resistance. Girls settle down to watch “Liberty’s Kids” and “Cyberchase.” I used to be totally opposed to television watching, but I figure my big kids are old enough now, and fanatic enough readers, to watch some TV. (Anyway, about half the time that they’re supposedly watching TV, they’re actually reading. My kids all love to read.) I head for the computer, pull up Word, and try to remember what on earth I was doing this morning. 3:15 A noisy argument breaks out about which side of the couch belongs to which girl. I run down the stairs and threaten them both with grounding for the rest of the summer if they wake up their brother. An uneasy peace is restored. 4:00 Older kids go back outside (banging door loudly as they go, not to be obnoxious but because they somehow are incapable of going through a door without banging it). Son wakes up, but he’s not mad, so I let him play by himself for a while and keep writing. 5:00 Time to make dinner and try to straighten kitchen a bit (but only a bit). DH will be home at 6:00. 7:00 After dinner I run upstairs to get a little more work done. By 8:00, when I have to start tucking the kids in, I’m pleased to notice I’ve actually added some pages to my total count, and some of the scenes really are improved. My story isn’t quite as horrifically dreadful as it was this morning. It’s always nice to finish the day with the realization that your WIP has improved (even if it’s only from terrible to barely readable). Of course, in the morning I will pull up my WIP and realize how hideously awful it is, and the process will start over… |
