This photo is a part of You Capture at I Should Be Folding Laundry
Yesterday I was in the grocery store when the book came to me. It’s not fiction, as I had thought, but I’m going to try to stay confident that it is meant to be written, by little old me, from my experience and my heart.
Not coincidentally, I came across this article by Anne Lamott through Sarah of Momalom (on Twitter, of course) the day before I had this grocery store epiphany.
I’ve been saying and saying and saying that I have no time to write a book. After all, I’m interrupted when I shower, how could I sit with clear thoughts and type any kind of sense at all in five second increments?
Anne writes, on finding time,
Ouch. And so true.
It may take me two years to finish, but I’m going to find my half-hours a day, to sit on my writing chair and add pages. I’m excited and grateful and scared, nervous and overwhelmed. There is only one thing I know for sure-even if this book is never published, I will have written it, and I will not look back and think of that as wasted time.
Thank you, friends. For encouraging me from the start. For reading my words and leaving comments that say things like, “When are you going to write a book?!” Your words and thoughts and prayers have been huge stepping stones for me on this writing journey. Huge. I’m forever grateful for you. Thank you.
“I’ve heard it said that every day you need half an hour of quiet time for yourself, or your Self, unless you’re incredibly busy and stressed, in which case you need an hour. I promise you, it is there. Fight tooth and nail to find time, to make it. It is our true wealth, this moment, this hour, this day.” -Anne Lamott
{ 36 comments }
Yep–just work one bird at a time (yes we are all Anne Lamott devotees) ;)
YEAYYYYYY!
Woot woot!!!
Peace to you as you make the time and write and bless folks with your words.
This is going to be GOOD, Heather.
I'll send you my address for that autographed first edition :-)
You will find more than a half hour once you get into it. Writers write, that is just what they do. You will fly through. You will get your book published. Use the secret! Your hard work will pay off because you deserve (and have talent for) this to be pulled off.
Have fun!
Wonderful news! Congrats! Let me know how I can help you find the time.
Wise words from Anne indeed – we do all need time for ourselves and yet instead of carving out such time we sit in front of our computer screens or do other things that mean it never happens.
I am glad to hear you have your idea for your book and wish you all the very best with your endeavors.
"…every day you need half an hour of quiet time for yourself, or your Self"
I love that! It really gives new depth to the concept by just changing the capitalization and making it two separate words.
Self.
Sometimes my Self gets lost in the din of life, but taking that time reminds me of who She really is.
Good for you! I'll buy your book. Put me down for one please.
ps. LOVE that photo!
Good for you! I hope you have a wonderful time writing it.
Oh, I am doing the same thing, spurned on by the same article. I've written it, but it needs to be completely REwritten. WAH.
Best of luck to you! I love the chair picture, so cute, so fun. ;)
Visiting from you capture, this shot is adorable!
Visiting from You capture – great words and best of luck to you!
YES!
heather, that is amazing. i am so there with you–yesterday i wrote three pages and i was like, that's the most i've done with my novel in a year and a half. and it felt great. let me know if you need a reading buddy–you know how to find me. ;)
Wonderful quote. That Anne Lamott. She's a wise woman.
I've felt that in my soul, lately. I need to unplug more so I can soak in the moment.
Yay Heather!! You're gonna write a book. I KNEW it.
But really, I need the story. The entire wonderful story of the grocery store epiphany.
I'll get it out of you sometime soon. Maybe at BlogHer. Hmmmm…..
Miss ya sister.
FABULOUS!! good luck! Can't wait to be at your book signing!
I would buy something written by you. Which means, well, you best right something!
When I was working on my as yet unpublished, but still very much written novel, it amazed me how I managed to find the time. I think you just have to start… then it will become priority, you'll find yourself really wanting to work on it, and you will. Mostly, I wrote in between 10 PM and 1 AM. Which is totally ridiculous. But it worked for me. Now that baby is sleeping a little better, I think I'm going to start a new project. My fingers are itching!
Happy writing!
Isn't it amazing how we all feel like we "never have time" for what we want to do, but when we make it a "need to do" thing, the time appears. And yes, in order to write a book, something must be axed – tv, or that extra hour of sleep, or the all-alone jog. But if the words are in you, they will flow when you take that hour and dedicate it, set it aside and make it a date, crave it. The words come.
That photo is so cute – really!! How did you get them to all cooperate?? Good luck on your writing mission.
And so it begins…and the healing continues. Yeah for you, I'm so happy for you. Enjoy your writing time!
it's in the air….
:)
I guess it would be too much to ask for you to find 30 minutes for me too?
Anne is my HERO! LOVE HER!
I *adore* Anne Lamott. Traveling Mercies is the only book I've read more than once, and I've read it like eight times.
So so proud of you for taking this step… keep at it and come back and talk to us if you get frustrated about making time… we will help you figure it out. :)
Write it girl. And frame that picture. Another treasure. You'll be able to add your own photos to the book too, you know, if you want! ;)
Good luck with it. Writing is something special and worthwhile.
I LOVE that photo! And I get an advanced copy, right?
Steph
My mom wrote a book called Extraordinary Ordinary and had it published. She then wrote a second one and called in Extraordinary Ordinary 2. If you are interested, I could get it to you!
I would read your book!
I love that photo and I'm stealing that idea, TOTALLY!
I'll buy a copy of your book.
Wow, if you can do it…. maybe I can too?
Yes. Exactly. I did it, Heather, so I know you can do. I wrote it in four months, twenty to forty minutes every day. It's a first draft and it has issues and I don't love it, but I like it and it's finished. My two cents, for what it's worth, is to take your half hour and type, no matter what, don't stop or think about how stupid this sounds or that it could be said better. The first time through, just get it out.
I can't wait to read it.
You can do this. I just read something else by Ann Lamott today to give me courage to get through shitty first drafts.
I don't want you to be like me. After 15 years of sobriety I was talking to the person who took me to my first meeting. I was telling her about my dream to write a book. She told me point blank that I had been talking about it for 15 years. She was just commenting but man did that make me give my head a shake.
These days I am working on a second draft of that book with hopes of submitting it to a publisher next year.
You really can do this. You can. And you won't have to be talking about it in 15 years because you will have done it.
The first step isn't finding the time, or even the idea, is it? It's feeling the burn or the itch to do something you know is in you, and then embarking on the will and the hope to fulfill your dream.
You'll make it happen. All of it. Because you are a safe haven unto yourself. Now. Oh, and that writing chair is calling out to you…clearly!
Wow!!! That is AWESOME–you found it. I am so happy for you.
Now if I could just find mine. Oh, and that little blurb up there about you, how you say you're a mom a lot, that is perfect. I realized the other day that my blurb is in sore need of a change, but I just don't know what to say. Maybe that will come to me, too.
Then all I'd have to do is find the time to write it.
LOVE that pic!
And I'm so thankful that you are popping up in my inbox with your beautiful words and grace-filled heart. I am saving a special spot on my bedside bookshelf just for your book. ;)
Comments on this entry are closed.