I suspect many aspiring authors post about not being able to write, Writer’s block being a common theme. But for me, I could write anywhere from eight to ten thousand words a day given the time. However with eight (or so) hours dedicated to sleep, roughly two for eating and food preparation, and eight (or so) dedicated to work… this has left me with six hours for writing. Six sounds like quite a bit doesn’t it? Well, considering I haven’t factored in travel time to and from work (not bad, thirty to forty minutes) and bathroom breaks (including shower time, looking at less another hour or so), down to roughly four hours. That is quite a bit of time, right? Well, I have a partner who enjoys my company and two dogs who are demanding. Unfortunately, I can’t leave one with the other as that would be selfish for her to take care of them all the time and would be neglectful of me to not spend time with her as well as the pups. So in short, I have no time. I keep buying books and games, in the hopes that I will be able to one day enjoy them. This is a laughable concept, however I have many more games and movies on preorder. Hope, as well as home, is where the heart is.

You’re probably thinking, “Well, what about your days off?” I too have considered this. I try to write as much as I can on my days off but as my partner works Monday to Friday, my days off on the weekend are allocated to spending time together, general catching up with friends and visiting family. If my day off happens upon a weekday, you may see a post such as this one. I may also bunker down and put some words into one of my stories. I may do both (insanity, I know). So it seems as though it is an entirely uphill battle of which I make very little, if any, progress.

I bought a book about time management, which has some fantastic advice. “Make time for the things that are important to you. If you’re not achieving your goals, no matter what else is going on, you will be unhappy.” This is very true. However managing your time and finding more time are two different things. It used to be that I would prioritise my writing, before the day began and before work got in the way. Waking up an hour early was to wake up with a purpose and to accomplish my writing before the day began was extremely fulfilling. Now I get up at that early time anyway to take the dogs out and feed them before I head to work for seven in the morning, and I cannot seem to get to bed any earlier. It is extremely frustrating and despite the fact I am achieving my goals at work, my personal goals are getting left in the dust.

It’s been getting to the point where I’m wondering if I stopped trying to write, would my overall mood improve? Would I be less frustrated and short fused? The only problem is, my imagination won’t give up or turn off, so how do I control that?

Hmm… even that thought sparks an idea for a story. A test subject trying to suppress his creativity through government experiments discovers that through suppression, his mind has been enhanced and enables him to create anything from nothing but the energy in the world around him . As the government tries to control him, he escapes and tries to go into hiding, only to be hunted down until he realises that to be free means to destroy his enemies or himself.

I’ll put it in the for retirement pile. *Sigh*