It's a strange paradox: the less time I have available for writing, the more urgently I seize and use that time, but when I have plenty of time to write and no pressing commitments, I'm more likely to shrug my shoulders and say, "I'll do it later."
Already I can see that being on sabbatical will require a whole new way of thinking about time. With no classes to teach and no regular meetings, the days blend together and I have trouble remembering whether this is Wednesday or Thursday. In the summer months my days are structured around working in the garden in the cool of the morning and in the house in the afternoon, but when it's 20 degrees and blustery, I'm staying inside unless someone comes up with a really compelling reason to make me bundle up and step out.
Compelling reasons are what I need. Next week I'll be on campus preparing for a pedagogy workshop and the following week I'll be in Florida, but after I return, I'll need to develop a way to structure my time so it doesn't feel so shapeless and empty. Maybe I'll set up a standing lunch date on campus once or twice a week to give me a good reason to leave the house and use the library and rec center. Maybe I'll find a way to bundle up enough to make long walks possible in this weather. Maybe I'll set daily writing goals, so many hundreds or thousands of words, with rewards for reaching certain levels.Will it work? Who knows?
I only know that I feel more idle than I have in decades and I'm disgusted at how little I'm managing to write.
2 comments:
A suggestion. Before you go to bed at night, plan what you want to do the next day. You may not get it done but you have a plan. Perhaps, set one goal per day.
A writer friend of mine told me to write every day, even if it was to type again what I typed the day before. It seemed to work for me.
Good luck. Margaret
Finding an online community of writers and people to hold you accountable might help. I just did a session of Writing Boot Camp through the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity--it was a free two-week sampling and it was great. The premise was the same as what Margaret has suggested, but we also had to check in and cheer others on, and got daily emails from the director. It was motivating. (Ironically, the word verification for this comment is "later"!)
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