Monday, October 24, 2005

Do your work

In the hours since my last post, I've come to a decision. Incoming storm or not, I'm done ranting. What is it that Jane Resh Thomas is fond of telling her Vermont College students?

Do your work.

Lowers head. Allows a small smile. Okay, Jane, I hear you.

What else did you say at our first mentor meeting? Set a writing goal for yourself. Two pages a day. Just two pages, and you're done. I'm beginning to understand the wisdom of this practice.

No matter how life conspires, two pages a day is achievable. Most anyone can handle two pages. What's more, the pages don't have to be publisher ready. They can be pure crap.

What matters is that I put butt in chair. What matters is that two pages a day will add up a lot quicker if I channel my energies into actual work, instead of worrying about how little I'm doing, or how fundamentally our lives might change a month from now. Breathes deep cleansing breath, then smiles as she calculates the numbers. A week from now I'll have 14 pages of creative. Two weeks from now 28. By the Monday before E's surgery, in excess of 50.

It's a plan. Butt in chair. Two pages a day.

Thanks, Jane.
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2 comments:

Writing Sally said...

2 pages a day sounds a good plan. Personally I left my part-time job six months ago and although had planned to write from home am finding it increasingly difficult to find the time/motivation with a toddler at home and another child on the way. Anyone who can do it - especially with children around (and with all the extra stresses you must be going through) deserves to be praised and admired aplenty.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Kim Winters said...

Ah, yes. I've stood on both sides of the fence. Worked full-time with my first daughter then downsized in order to stay home with her, and launched a home-based marketing consulting business on the side. The transition from work-outside-the-home mom to work-at-home mom took a good six months or so. Redefining my definition of success and my sense of self took longer. By chance I connected with a group of like-minded moms who'd voluntarily left the workforce for similar reasons. They kept me sane during those early days when my kids were younger, and I craved adult conversation rather than another episode of Barney, and I questioned my decision to stay home. Though many have moved on as our kids have grown, a handful of us remain close friends.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

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