So there seems to be a bit of a pattern forming. Whenever I take a week off and know I am going to do little writing, the subsequent week back at work also means I do hardly any writing. This is very frustrating. The will power was there, it is just that the time was not.
As it happens the week I spent at home was fairly productive, amongst the days out and DIY, I managed to get up early on three occasions and be productive. Only three mornings I hear you say? Man, that Rob is lazy. But let me put it into some sort of context for you. My second son does not sleep. That is not an exaggeration, it is a simple fact. Since he was 4 months old, he has not gone through the night more than a couple of times. He hasn’t even only woken up just the once more than a dozen times.
A typical night would be to get my eldest down around 7:30 to 8pm. He will typically stay asleep all through the night until 8 a.m. (although lately they have been double teaming us.). Jamie on the other hand may go down for an hour between 8:30 and 9, which leaves us an hour to get the house straight for the next day and maybe, you know, sit and have a cup of tea (heaven forbid). Just as we settle in bed and put on a programme to watch he will be up at 11:00. We will get him down by about 11:30 and then go to bed.
Jamie will be up again at 1:30. Half an hour later, we can think of sleeping again. 4am or 5am he will get up and then again at 6:30 ish. During that time he sleeps but cries rather loudly during his sleep. Always at the times above and always loud enough so we are awake and forced to do something about it in case he wakes Joseph.
I leave for work at 6:40am and so I operate each day on little sleep. The reason for this self-pitying moan? If I want to do any writing then getting up early, means staying awake from the 5am time and forcing myself.
I did this on three occasions two weeks ago. So I was impressed. Last week when I was back at work, I was swamped. No time for writing at lunch and no early finishes. We also had a couple of bad nights with Jamie. (Bad constitutes even worse than the norm above!!)
If you are interested in what it is like to try and write a book when you are a parent, that is an insight. You can read all the patronising self-help books you want saying that if you want to be an author bad enough you will make time, but sometimes it is just not possible. When I can, I write. I want to write. There is no lack of desire, but sometimes I can just keep my eyes open.
I’ve grouped the two weeks together:
Monday: 1,532
Tuesday: 650
Wednesday: 0
Thursday: 0
Friday: 944
Sat – Thurs: 0
Total: 2,726
Total book two: 36,016
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