When I made the decision to be a writer, I scheduled writing time.  I had one hour to be a writer, noon to one which was the hour my baby daughters took naps. When they started nursery school and then went into kindergarten I had three hours to write every morning. When they hit grade school I could write most of the day and by the time they were in junior high I had published a novel and a book for kids about poetry, and then I wrote more books when they were in high school.

But stuff happens in life and you get off your schedule. Divorce – and oddly enough unlimited time – threw my schedule off , but then I got back on it and published more books. But right now I’m here to say I am off the rails, off my schedule. I do really well when I have a deadline, but you don’t get a deadline until you write something and an editor wants it (unless you make up one for yourself which is a very good idea).  At the moment I’m making notes for a memoir and taking baby steps to get back to a schedule. This morning I wrote for an hour. I figure if I do this every day for a few weeks something will come out of it. I know what my memoir is about and the time frame, but I haven’t found the voice for it yet and I hate this stage of writing a book. I want to know exactly how I’m going to write it and how perfectly fabulous it will be. This is not the case with what I’m writing now.

Though I have also been working on a novel these past months, but not on schedule. This novel, which I’ve been rewriting forever, is now more like a big loopy afghan that I’m knitting. Sometimes I sit at a daughter’s kitchen table for a whole afternoon typing away, cutting out flabby words, tightening things up. Sometimes I go up to Arrowhead and fiddle with it for a few days. My characters now are like old, old friends that I visit; I love hanging out with them.  I have no expectations or fantasies about the fate of this novel. If, after this final, final, final rewrite, my agent sells it, that would be great. If not, I’ll take advantage of publishing on line and beg all of you to buy it for 99 cents.