First I'll tell you about my general routine. It starts around 6 in the morning and ends around 10 at night. Both of these times often shift up and/or down -- two or three hours at most -- but generally, 6 a.m. finds a bleary-eyed Deb trying desperately to fight her way out of bed. And 10 p.m. she's desperately trying to fight her way back in.
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| In lieu of a picture of me exercising...link to original here |
Boys and the game of getting everyone ready follows after that.
Breakfast, playing, excitement ensues.
Beta goes down for morning naps around 10 a.m. which is a nice breather for me too because while I rock him quietly, cuddle snugly, to sleep, Alpha watches Sesame Street on the internet and everyone takes a little time to relax.
Then we clean.
Beta wakes up, we do lunch, hang out and play. Maybe we go to the shaded park across the street. It's too hot for walks, now. Have to wait for the summer to cool off to do that again because Beta's skin is sensitive to sun and heat.
Somewhere between1 and 2 in the afternoon the boys go down for a nap -- Beta happily so and Alpha not so happily so. And then I get to write. Many days I want to nap too, and some days I do. Most days I push through the afternoon slump, because when am I going to write if not when I'm tired?
Blah, blah, blah. My day goes on. My days go on like this generally, generally on. When people ask me why my children are fussy I can look at the clock and guess that they're ready for their naps or they're needing lunch or they're used to going to the park around now...
I no longer argue against the need for schedules and at least a little structure.
Here's where my confession comes in: I always peek at the end of books I'm interested in reading to see if I want to even start. If it seems like an intriguing enough end, I'll bite into the beginning, otherwise I put it back. Sadly and simply enough, I just don't have the time.
Do you do this?
But if I could read about or see the end of my day before I got up, would I? Would you? Besides the obvious and hearty shove of Responsibility, what makes you...or rather helps you...get out of bed in the mornings?
I'm just curious.
On another note, do you know about The Write Practice yet? Oh my -- and I blush -- it's another of my blog crushes.
This is the post that's got me thinking about schedules and confessions and reading the end of stories before I even begin them. You should read it, and I wonder what it will make you think about too. Do you agree with him? What are your thoughts?
Moment of Magic today:
A classic relaxation song. If you want a little extra mood, open this page in the background as well and let the two sounds interweave. Mmm, I love me some rain and Incubus.
I only skimmed his post, but I agree that the structure he talks about is an effective one. It shows the reader how far the character has come over the course of the story.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, our schedule is non-existent. Maybe that's one reason I have such a hard time making myself write. Of course, we've also had a dramatic change in our lives this past month, so we may have more of a schedule once I get the hang of things again.
Heh. I very dramatic change. Schedules come and go, shift and change and it's good to be flexible. I feel like it's definitely easier to make myself write when I have a schedule, but it is by no means a guarantee that I'll write. Will power is always a must, at least for me. Not sure why.
DeleteRead that as "A very dramatic..." rather than "I"
DeleteI'm chalking it up to being tired ;)
Thanks for the link to that post / blog, some great advice.
ReplyDeleteYour days sound a lot more structured than mine, I used to be structured and organised, but then life got busier and busier and I seem to just be firefighting situations and taking each day as it comes dealing with the fires as they pop up. I don't like being like this and crave for some sense of calm with no fires to put out. A daily structure that allows me to fit everything is just what I need at the moment.
As for reading the ends of books, I do that occasionally, however it backfired on me recently with the boy in the stripped pj's. I read the end before starting it and as a result the book wasn't as powerful as it could have been and it took me an age to finish it because I knew what was going to happen. I tend to go off word of mouth at the moment to see if a story will be interesting enough to start, however working in a library is proving difficult as I just want to bring armfulls home every day, if only I could schedule in time to read ;-)
Hope your writing is going well, keep it up tired or not (don't know about you but I can't seem to write now unless I am tired, which is almost all the time so doesn't pose too big a problem lol!)
Haha! No, you're right, the tired-thing is definitely not a problem for me because I too am tired all the time. Ah well. I'm going to say that's a good thing and then hope that it is.
DeleteI like how you say it: "firefighting situations...". Yes, that seems to describe it perfectly. I think I may even sound like a siren every once in awhile. A schedule helps, but not always. And keeping to the schedule can sometimes be more frantic than just being flexible, so. I think there's no perfect answer with that. I also think that someday there will be all sorts of calm and then we'll be pining for the days when things were wild and chaotic. It's just really nice to know we're all in this together-ish :)
I never read the end of books. And, I will finish a not-so-good book just because I have to see it end.
ReplyDeleteAs for my days, I've had several this week that, if I could've see the end, I would have pulled the covers over my head and refused to leave my bed.
Oh Jewels, I miss you're lovely smile. You doing okay?
DeleteI have to admit that I haven't read books for fun in a really long time (decade or so).
ReplyDeleteBut when I did, I would sometimes look at the end of the book after reading a few pages at the beginning of the book.
I read three books last week (first time in forever) and did not look to the end. You reminded me of the joy of doing so. I'll start on the next book I can read.
I literally gasped when I read that you haven't read for fun in a decade. I'm so sorry :( I'm glad you've finally started to catch up for lost time -- three books in one week? What were they? Do you recommend them? And it is a joy to read the end, huh. I love seeing how the author gets the characters to that ending...love, love it.
DeleteI try very, very hard not to read the end of a book ahead of time. I remember several years ago reading the end of "The Big House" a book about a summer house not too far from where I live which had passed through several generations of one family. I didn't think I could read the book if the house ended up being demolished. Usually I can wait to find out and not only that sometimes I slow down my reading towards the end because I don't want to finally get there.
ReplyDeleteThat said I've been reading more and more non-fiction lately which usually doesn't lend itself to much suspense. The end to "Plastics: A Toxic Love Story," wasn't much of a cliff hanger.