Finding Time

Of all the challenges I face as a writer, there is nothing that stands in my way more than a general lack of time.

I love writing, can edit on the fly, am always cooking up some new twist, some new take on something. I love characters and research and dialog and the whole bit.

But when to do it? I work full time, as many writers do, have three children, down to the ankle-biter size, have a labor-intensive husband who needs a modicum of attention, a busy blog presence, a reading habit and more than my fair share of hobbies, including jewelry-making, crocheting and embroidery. Finding a few hours where no one's demanding anything of me, where I don't have something that *needs* to be done or where no one will *need* my attention is, well, challenging.

And, with my writing, I tend to get immersed. That can mean being sucked in where thirty minutes just won't cut it. I rarely sit down to write and get up after doing less than a few thousand words. And, if I do, I either got interrupted too soon or I wasn't really ready to put it on paper.

Blocks of time, of course, are hard to come by. The only advantage I have is that I'm a night owl, rarely in bed before midnight, and frequently much later. Of course, I have to get up before six.

Which means I write at the expense of sleep.

But at least I'm writing.