Working 9-5
At this moment in time, I am an unpublished writer. I will still refer to myself as an writer because I do write. Whether or not I will be a published writer depends on many factors. The main factor I guess is to finish the novel, at least the first draft.
So how does one balance the need to write with the everyday job that I need to pay the bills?
I struggle sometimes. I find that I have a weekend free to write endless pages. Chapter after chapter I envisage flowing from my fingertips. I get to Sunday night and nothing. Zip, zilch, zero!
Next thing I'll notice is it's 2pm on Wednesday afternoon and I'm inputting numbers etc and all these creative ideas keep coming into my head, wanting to be written down.
So the answer is a notebook, where I can quickly dash down any ideas I have during office hours. It's just a random jumble of quick quotes or thoughts. I'm not talking about stopping my work for an hour whilst I bash out a whole chapter. I don't think my employers would be too impressed with that.
But it is a good idea in theory. The problem is I then forget to bring it home with me and the ideas remain at work, waiting there patiently for me to come and fetch them.
However, this week I have the good fortune to be on leave for a week. I am travelling to Norfolk with my lovely parents to stay in a rented cottage. As I don't have to do any of the driving (trust me, my folks would rather walk all the way to Norfolk than let me drive), I get the luxury of sitting in the back seat. With the laptop and a good few hours of uninterrupted time to write.
What's the probability of that white screen syndrome occurring? Put it this way, any decent bookie wouldn't give you a bet.
Scribbling off