The Process...
Do you ever wish you made a better use of your time? When I was just out of college, I worked at an advertising agency. Now ad agencies are like law firms and you have billable hours, meaning hours that can be directly attributed to clients and recouped. I remember accounting for minutes when I worked at the agency: 10 a.m. to 10:10 a.m. Spoke with client, addressed an envelope to meet their request.
I was thinking, I should work like that. Just for a day because it would be really telling. Yesterday I was doing laundry, my kids were yapping at me and my mind was on my new book. I'd been reading the first pages of books at the bookstore after church (bad habit, but it saves me cash $$) and I turned around and walked into the wall instead of the closet.
OH MY GOSH, THAT IS IT!! That is why my heroine can't succeed, she's got her head in the clouds with too many things going on around her. So I went to my computer, ripped out the beginning and started again. So I figure here's my time spent, vs. billable hours. Charged to the agency (ie., can't be recouped):
Browsing bookstore, reading first pages -- 1 hour.
Church, fellowship and character study - 2.5 hours.
Doing laundry, pondering what's wrong with the book -- 2 hours
Playing around on email pretending I'm working (only fooling self) -- 2 hours
Walking into the wall (5 seconds)
New beginning for book -- charged to client -- 5 minutes.
All I can say is there's a reason the ad agency life didn't work for me. Keeping track of my time is just depressing!
9 Comments:
But you proved for a writer, time is never wasted. I loved the running into the wall thing and how that made you find the problem with your story!! Priceless! You just never know when inspiration will strike!
I was beginning to think something was wrong with me because that is how my brain functions too. I am usually off in the clouds and then something will suddenly hit me. Like Sunday morning during my husbands sermon while I was sitting on the front pew....
Brings new meaning to hitting the wall, but I'm glad it was inspiration! Love the cover, by the way.
Oh, I can so relate. That's one thing I HATE about practicing law. I can be extremely efficient and work for lots of clients, but at the same time you lose the ability to just think.
Can't hours spent brainstorming for a book be billable hours?? Even if it's during laundry? Call it research, or planning or, uh, something? LOL! Seems to me with all the voices and scenes that play through a writer's head, you're pretty much working 24/7! :-) Whether it's on your current project or future ones. That's a lot of work! You must be absolutely exhausted! You should go get yourself a nice hot cup of coffee and some chocolate. Sit down, relax and give yourself a much deserved break!
"Church, fellowship, and character study" LOL That was my favorite part.
LOL. I have been so distracted and unfocused lately that when people talk to me I just stare at them blankly. But now that I have impending papers on Macbeth and Chaucer due, a huge test in poly sci, and an Arabic test it's time to come back to reality.
Okay, I'll wait until after tomorrow. In my fake world I have a man even better than Kevin Novak.
I was thrilled to walk into a wall yesterday. I finally got the ending for my WIP. But those billable hours? Ugh. I'm not even going to attemp that, Kristin. Way too depressing. ;)
LOL.....I can so relate. I look at how I "waste" time, but then again, when I look at it another way, nothing's wasted.
But, gotta ask...walking into a wall? LOL
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