tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849809240340884036.post9182793784497755366..comments2024-02-18T15:33:14.203+00:00Comments on Cafe Aphra: An Online Community for Writers: Domesticity, motherhood and novel-writingAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18211549312672749091noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849809240340884036.post-22798465927719529952013-04-04T21:08:52.059+01:002013-04-04T21:08:52.059+01:00A singing teacher once told me that a singer is so...A singing teacher once told me that a singer is someone who sings - it is not just about having a beautiful voice that no-one ever hears. <br />Having not written anything in months and months and months (possibly longer), I realise I have a bit of a cheek to respond thus to your post which deeply resonates with me. But, I have just come to the same conclusion about writing. The only way to be a writer is to write. So I guess we just have to make time to do it. If you have 5 minutes you should feel OK about that and just jot down ideas. If you can find an hour, that is fine. I think the trick is to be flexible in what you expect yourself to achieve. Maybe you only have time for a writing exercise, or you jot down notes for a poem or a short story that you can do when have more time. <br />Make space in the mess of it all to write, if writing is what you want to do. <br />Sinichi Suzuki said you should only practice your musical instrument on days that you eat. Perhaps we should only write on days when we eat. That being the case, I should have written rather a lot by now. But I have not. However, with the same kind of zeal with which a non-smoker responds to her previous bad habit, I intend to make time for writing even in the mess of my life from now on. <br />Dislike of mess, judgement of being considered a bad parent or fear of writing failure will not put me off any more. I will start tomorrow. And not just blogs. Mess and children be damned. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849809240340884036.post-32611393968248328142013-04-03T10:12:16.904+01:002013-04-03T10:12:16.904+01:00Loved this piece, yes I totally understand. Someti...Loved this piece, yes I totally understand. Sometimes it's best to stop seeing necessary housework as a distraction and try to use the time to think about the novel while washing, cleaning, etc. and sometimes it's even more productive just to spend that time in my head I find. The repetitive and mundane nature of a lot of the tasks also helps as this allows you to daydream. But yes, domesticity and writing are incompatible in many ways, I do agree, and I can't even imagine motherhood and writing...! It makes me want to put off having children even later..... and later.... though thankfully my tolerance of mess is such that my writing may stand a chance of survival, Inshallah. And who knows, perhaps I might even be able to afford a cleaner by then!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3849809240340884036.post-24689909329034391032013-04-02T15:34:24.511+01:002013-04-02T15:34:24.511+01:00I think clean house definately equates to a clear ...I think clean house definately equates to a clear mind in my case. I also believe that after spending a few hours on domestic tasks, I have earned the time to sit and write. Quite often, whilst scrubbing to toilets, ideas, plots and character developments pop into my mind so I find housework helpful in many ways! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12410637963318672761noreply@blogger.com