How to use this Page

Writers measure time a bit differently than most people. At least that’s what I’ve found.

For instance, ask writers how long they worked that day and you might hear something like this—

“Let’s see. Well, I got those last three poems for my book done first thing this morning even before going to my inbox or Facebook. Then I finished doing the rewrite on a short story for one of the online literary mags. That was just before I grabbed some toast for breakfast. Once I got my stomach to quit growling, I worked on both blogs and the website for a couple of hours or so.

“Lunch was a quick cup of soup and a sandwich. I think that’s what I had. I don’t pay a lot of attention to food when my mind is working on an outline for a new storyline. Sometime in the afternoon I had to field a couple of calls from editors and then got back to the real work; social networking.

“I got a handle on the promotional announcements about the new book and a couple of speaking engagements so that I can send those out tomorrow. I also sent a couple of queries out and three submissions.”

Notice that there’s no mention of a real estimate of when the writer began work for the day or whether the work day was actually finished. Many times such considerations aren’t relevant to the profession. Deadlines, expectations, appointments make the grade for mental significance, but time spend working is just that—time spent. It doesn’t need to be counted or regulated.

This isn’t a nine to five career choice. It isn’t something that a writer quits thinking about at the end of the day. Something as simple as a new commercial on TV can trigger a flurry of creative activity. The writer’s mind is seldom quiet.

Perhaps that’s why clocks have importance to writers. It’s not to see how much time we’ve spent on a project that day. Instead, a clock tells us how little time we have left that day to work on what was planned for the docket.

And how do you measure time in a day’s schedule?

Until later, a bientot,

Claudsy