The Art of Production

I started this blog with the idea that I would allow my students, and others, a more unique look into my life as a writer. A few weeks ago, I was reading at the local public library. During a question and answer period after the reading, I was asked "With your schedule, when do you write?" My answer? "I don't." At the time, the answer seemed reasonable. I teach a lot during the semester. I am involved in several other projects that I deem important and relevant. I have a family. There are many reasons my production level decreases, especially during the semester.

Two weeks later, or thereabouts, I find the answer harrowing, terrifying, and a bit overwhelming. I have heard too many older people say that they are just coming back to writing after "taking time off to raise a family." I remember giving advice to a friend when I was starting out as a writing teacher. He was writing a novel and was considering taking time off from writing. I urged him to reconsider. I told him if he left the novel, he would never finish it. He did leave it. He has never finished it. And so, I am faced with a similar dilemma, and I have decided that despite my commitments to so many important paths, my writing and my craft (after my family) are of the utmost importance. Production is key, as it always has been. I tell my students to write, write, write; read, read, read, read, read, read. So, there it is.

In light of this, I have decided, with the encouragement and support of my wonderful wife, to apply for residencies and to seek out opportunities to write during the summer months particularly. I will also schedule specific times during the day that will be devoted to my work. If I am going to ask it of my students, I should know what I ask. Perhaps this is not the best thing to place out there in the open as I seek publication of my manuscript, but this is an honest and real problem. Many writers struggle with time constraints, "real" jobs, (gulp) family commitments (I gulp because it is most likely taboo to write what I just wrote), and other hurdles that hinder production and creation. Some of us have jumped over these hurdles. I know we have because there are books on the shelves written by people who teach at community colleges, four-year schools, high schools, and so on; people who have families and pets and children in daycare and elderly parents. It is a solvable issue, and I intend to find the path that will lead to more production, better production, and, ultimately, publication. I hope you will, too.

Write on, my friends.