Twenty years ago one probably thought of a romance writer like this

The infamous Dame Barbara Cartland.
But even then, she was the exception, not the norm.
My daily life is somewhat different.
First I drag out of bed and drive my teens to high school in a ratty robe and sleep-tangled hair. I admit, I do brush my teeth first, but humiliating my teens by dropping them off at school in my robe and beat up mini-van is shear payback for all the crap my teens have given me over the years. Once I get home again I make breakfast for the 10 year old and get her off to school. Then if I’m feeling really determined, I spend 15-20 minutes working out to an old Jazzercize tape. I shower, eat a bowl of cereal, make some coffee, then finally sit down to my computer. But do I immediately open the word doc with my current manuscript and start writing? Oh no.
First I check my To Do list, reply to the emails from RWA chapter loops, author loops, conference planning team loops, and a few personal emails, call the high school and speak to one of my daughter’s teachers about her grade or class she wants to get out of, fill in and address 15 invitations for my daughter’s roller skating birthday party in a few weeks, and make a few other phone calls for doctor and dentist appointments for the kids. Then of course there’s the all important bill paying/checkbook balancing, and last but not least, I must play solitaire and/or Jawbreaker while I listen to music I consider the “soundtrack” for my current manuscript. By then it’s time for lunch.
If I’m really in a procrastinating mode, I’ll even do laundry. I know. Desperate, huh? Anything but face that blank page or that snag in the plot.
So, of course, I end up staying up until 2 or 3 in the morning writing, which is what I did when my kids were toddlers and I didn’t have 10 minutes to myself during the day. I haven’t come very far, have I?
Oh, I’ve had those rare good days when the words flow and I write 17 pages straight by the time I have to pick up the kids from school. But I don’t seem to ever have a solid week of reaching my goal, which is 5 pages a day. I used to think I could just force it. If I sat at the computer and really thought hard about my characters or my plot points I could figure out what to write next. After all, I’m a plot-driven writer, not a “Pantser” (someone who writes by the seat of their pants) or a character-driven writer like my 2 Critique Partners who absolutely let their characters tell them what is going to happen next. No, no. Not me. I am in control of this plot.
But more and more I seem to need to get up and walk away from the keyboard and do something else while my subconscious works out the problem. Catherine Spangler http://www.catherinespangler.com/gives a wonderful workshop about the subconscious writer, but I never thought I WAS one. My CPs can go to sleep blocked on a writing problem and wake up knowing the answer. Not me. Sometimes I just have to let it go, read a good romance from my To Be Read pile, or watch a favorite romantic movie, and that will spark the answer I need.
But the most important thing is knowing I WILL figure it out eventually, and come back to the writing with a better scene, or knowing my character better, or just how to transition to the next scene. At least at this point in my writing life, I know I don’t have to give up and go apply at Wal-Mart.
Who knew a romance writer’s life was so…Unromantic?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Jillian Burns, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.