blog lag, fiction fizzle

Somehow, a month has slipped by without a blog post here. I suppose I must have been busy. I certainly haven't been working on my novel, or exercising, or getting a real job.

I have, however, landed a pretty regular (so far) paid writing gig, doing short articles for the Martha's Vineyard Times, Calendar section. It's been kind of fun. I've written one or two assigned articles a week for the past three or four weeks. They've been on a range of different subjects, but the substance of most of them is doing a few interviews and setting people's quotes, and the information they give me, into a sensible, readable narrative. I have to say it's a lot easier than writing fiction. At least, I find it easier.

However, as I remember from last time I did this, I have a really hard time switching gears. In order to make good progress on a novel, I need a solid 1.5 - 2 hours, at least five days a week, to work on it. A reliable 1.5-2 hours, that is, not a half hour in the morning before Nova wakes up, 15 minutes while she's off playing with someone else, another half hour while she's napping (though I can still squeeze an hour out of most naptimes) etc. I need to know that I will have that time every day, or at least 4-5 days out of the week, otherwise I just don't function well as a novelist.

So I think I am going to take a break from fiction after all, even though I don't really want to. I just can't get the time I need. I'm enjoying writing nice, short articles which get me out of the house and talking to new and different people. I am really preoccupied with our massive renovation project and all the work that needs to be done on the house and yard, not to mention the usual stuff of everyday life. I'm still writing, but it's not quite the same.

I'd better post this before Nova wakes up!

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