The Scene: Páraig has been writing a book since February. Marion urges him to take a rest, otherwise he will be burned out.
Marion: You’ve been at for 14 whole weeks. Can’t you give yourself a rest?
Me: I’m wrecked from it. I never thought it would be so hard.
M: Promise me you’ll go easy. You’re not looking great. Bit of sunshine and some red wine would do you good.
Me: I already cut back from writing five days a week to four. Maybe I’ll reduce my workload a bit more. I could become a part time writer?
M: You were always good to have my dinner on the table, but these last few weeks you’re slipping up. Just salads, day in day out. I’ll be glad when it gets finished.
Me: Yeah, to be honest, I need a kick up the arse every now and then. I’m fading away.
Moral of the story: Same as last week!
The Three Hairs 
Memories. When I was completing my graduate degree, the final portion was composed of writing a publishable thesis which had to meet all of the department prerequisites of format, citations, etc., and of at least 200 pages, and then defending it with my department chairs and my graduate thesis advisor. Oh yippee! Also, a foreign language proficiency examination comprising both written and oral components. Satisfied that I could do all this on a madly condensed period of three months, I informed my department to expect and schedule my thesis defense panel. They looked at me like I had lost my mind. One secretary told me flat out that it couldn’t possibly be done in such a short amount of time. I’ll let you wonder just another few seconds whether I managed to do everything or whether I flailed miserably.
End result: The writing either flowed or it just didn’t. No amount of coaxing could produce as much as a paragraph at times. At other points, pages upon pages poured from my fingertips onto the keyboard. I could be at it for hours and hours and it felt like minutes when the juices were really flowing. I learned to just get up and do something else at the points were I had writers block. My personal writing style is to edit as I type. Revising as I go, editing as I go works for me. What didn’t work to my favor, is that I’m usually a very concise writer. Not the flowing verbiage that this long post would suggest 😀
Páraig do what works for you. Writers write for the love and joy creating a narrative entails. Being able to put thoughts into words and gather them up into paragraphs and pages is a labor of love, or at least it should be.
I completed my thesis and defense and language exams all within the time frame I had allotted. then I promptly sold all my belongings and moved to Europe! I didn’t even attend the graduation ceremony! I sometimes regret that, but not for too long, or too often.
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Oh wowee! There’s a thesis there!
My stories smack of some dubious wit. I finished my book on Tuesday. To be published before Halloween, all going well. It’s now going to proofreader while I concentrate on writing my father-of-the-bride speech!
In Lisbon celebrating! 😜🍷🌞
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You can still be a full time writer without working full-time at it. You just need to get into your flow and your sweet spot. Remember this is supposed to be a fun project that adds to your life, rather than detract from it. Listen to your feelings, if it is time to stop for the day or week, then it is. Life is not a race, it is a dance of joy! 😘🌸⚘
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