Patricia Stoltey

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The Writing Life…or lack thereof

May 2, 2012 By: Patricia

What do I mean by that?

Well, it’s like this. During the month of April while I was doing the Blogging from A to Z Challenge, I used the theme of “My A to Z Wish List.” As the month went on, I realized there were a lot of things on my list I could actually accomplish if I had more time. And there were a lot of things I wish for that never made it to my list–like more time to read for fun, more time to garden, and more time in general (as in total days on this planet).

What do we do to make more time? The usual. We get more organized, make a plan, identify priorities, etc. etc. etc.

And we give up doing stuff that doesn’t matter…or that we don’t enjoy so much…or that simply wastes the precious hours we have to do what matters.

All that led me to wonder if writing was one of the things I should give up. I gave it serious thought.

For about five minutes.

The mini-meditation on the joys and benefits of the writing life was useful. It gave me new resolve. Now that the A to Z Challenge is over, I’m ready to get back to work. That feels good.

~~~~~~~~~~

My guest blogger tomorrow is David Freed, author of Flat Spin, a Cordell Logan mystery.  I hope you’ll join us.

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Comments

  1. Alana says

    May 3, 2012 at 3:41 pm

    …and when I have time, I’m going to figure out how to get my photo to come up here….!

  2. Alana says

    May 3, 2012 at 3:40 pm

    I LOVED the mini-meditation comment. πŸ™‚

  3. Cindy Keen Reynders says

    May 2, 2012 at 8:04 pm

    I continue to add to my list of things. Never lets up, just adds up. Oh well! I can quit when I’m dead. πŸ™‚

  4. Stephanie V says

    May 2, 2012 at 5:09 pm

    I always come down to giving up blogging. No way! So, there are things that just don’t get done.

  5. Carolyn says

    May 2, 2012 at 4:11 pm

    I can’t see you giving it up:) Maybe taking a mini-vacation, but not forever!

  6. The Golden Eagle says

    May 2, 2012 at 3:50 pm

    I want to start writing more in May, too. I really slacked off while the A-Z Challenge was ongoing. Here’s to a productive month ahead! πŸ™‚

  7. Patricia Stoltey says

    May 2, 2012 at 10:57 am

    Hi everyone! Yes, whenever I do the Elspeth test, writing comes out okay. However, if I were to follow that test all the way to the end, I would give up cooking. Forever. And ever. πŸ˜€

  8. Elspeth Antonelli says

    May 2, 2012 at 10:37 am

    I do a simple test. If whatever it is makes me happy, it stays. If it doesn’t it goes.

  9. Lynn Proctor says

    May 2, 2012 at 8:34 am

    i am sure glad you didn’t decide to quit writing!

  10. Karen Walker says

    May 2, 2012 at 7:49 am

    You and I are in similar places Pat, and I came to the same conclusion.
    Karen

  11. The Armchair Squid says

    May 2, 2012 at 7:36 am

    In some ways, I feel it’s the “stuff that doesn’t matter” that’s tricky. There are things that matter to me a lot specifically because they are otherwise unimportant. Without them, I might go insane. But then, I suppose they really do matter. Like I said, it’s tricky.

  12. Alex J. Cavanaugh says

    May 2, 2012 at 7:10 am

    I know I’m ready to get back to work!

  13. Margot Kinberg says

    May 2, 2012 at 6:01 am

    Pat – I’ve done the same thing! I’ve fretted about how little time I have for everything I would like to accomplish and tried to decide what to give up. Every once in a while I think about giving up writing. But I just could never do it.

Meet Patricia

I read, I write, I blog, and sometimes I do the laundry and cook. My 2014 novel, Dead Wrong, was a finalist in the thriller category of the 2015 Colorado Book Awards. Wishing Caswell Dead (Five Star/Cengage, December 20, 2017) is a historical mystery set in 1830s Illinois in the fictitious Village of Sangamon. The novel was a finalist for the 2018 Colorado Book Awards for General Fiction. Read More…

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