Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Juggler

by Maggie Marr



I know there is the mythic vision of the solitary writer hunched over a rickety desk in their drafty loft scribbling furiously with their feathered pen inking their carefully chosen words onto parchment. There are even those writers, still, that when reticently interviewed speak of going off to their cabin in the woods, office without internet or hidden flat of which not even their closest family and friends know of its location. Unbothered by the drudgeries of daily life they toil relentlessly pulling out their hair for the correct order of words that will make their latest work another literary masterpiece.

That isn't my life.

As I write this blog I am fixing breakfast, folding laundry, helping my eldest with homework and my youngest with stickers...oh and retiling the bathroom with my toes. I exaggerate. A bit. But my life, including my writer life, involves the constant of family and the needs of my family and deadlines and writing and producing and tv...the list goes on and on and on. Sure I have a preternatural ability to live in a near bio-hazard of a home. Shoes in the center of the living room floor? No problem. Ignore them. Papers all over the kitchen table? Didn't see them. Dishes in the sink? Can't look at them. This ability to ignore the bits of life that would eat away at my writing time is a necessity. Otherwise how would I ever meet a writing deadline? There are two analogies that I received early in my career that I go back to over and over when I feel guilty about the six foot mountain of laundry.

First, you have a finite amount of time in each day. 24 hours. Everyone gets it. Visualize the day as a mason jar-a clear glass jar. Now what are the things you have to accomplish. Really must do or emergency crews, your parents, or perhaps child services will arrive at your home. For some authors it is their day job, for others it is taking care of a parent for part of the day, some have children to get to school. One of these must-do things should always be writing. Think of those must do events as rocks. You get to place 4 in your mason jar. Now you have space in your jar around the rocks but it is little bits and pieces of space 5, 10, 15 minute increments of time here and there. That is the part of day you will fill with sand...for me sand entails loading the dishwasher, folding a load of laundry, scrubbing the toilet...I do these things in fifteen minute increments around the big rocks of my day. Because I must get in my writing.

Second. Think of yourself as a juggler. Any Mom I know will understand this analogy. You have a dozen balls you are trying to keep in the air at any given time. Children. Husband. Job. Writing. Parents. Bills. Room mom. Car maintenance. Anything that you have got to take care of. Now here's the thing; some of those balls that you are trying to keep up in the air are made of rubber and some are made of glass. Getting an oil change for the car is a rubber ball. Your daughter's musical recital is glass. Meaning if you drop the oil change this week well that baby will bounce right up into the air for next week. You miss the recital? Well hell you've just shattered a little girl's heart and purchased fifty thousand dollars in therapy.

I guess this all comes down to prioritizing our lives. Writing must be a priority similar to showering and brushing your teeth. Things that we feel are important get done. Take the time to write. Whether it be four hours or thirty minutes. Demand the time for yourself and know that you deserve it. Realize that you can squeeze time in amidst life, in fact, oftentimes you'll have to. Sitting in the car waiting for soccer practice to end? Time to edit that last chapter. Standing waiting for the train? Pull out a spiral notebook and write down some ideas for the second act.

Me? I'm happy to live with all the dust bunnies as long as they leave me alone to dance with my words.

Please leave a comment and tell me all about your glass balls and the juggling routine that keeps it all in the air.



Maggie Marr is the author of Hollywood Girls Club and Secrets of The Hollywood Girls Club. She is currently working on a Young Adult trilogy. She also writes for film and tv. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. You can follow her and her glass balls at www.maggiemarr.com

33 comments:

  1. Maggie, I want to learn how to retile the bathroom with my toes :)

    This post was perfect for me today. I'm on deadline again and I woke up thinking about all the housework I have to get done before we leave town for the Easter holiday, etc... Thanks for helping me see the big picture. I'm off to write!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Perfect, Maggie! One thing I foud nreally helped me was carving out some space in my house and renaming it "My Office"--somehow, over time, when I was there, the kids saw me as WORKING and were much less apt to interrupt/ask for things/bring me their requests/complaints/excuses. I could also leave notes and things spread out and know they'd be less likely to be lost in the vortex of our house. Another benefit of it? It was easier for me to ignore the laundry/dishes/housework.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for this blog, Maggie. My goal is to one day have an office away from the house because the demands of it are always tugging at me. Although Judy's idea sounds like a good one.

    Actually my dog is the one who interrupts me most even though I've talked to many times about it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maggie, this is a great post!

    "I'm happy to live with all the dust bunnies as long as they leave me alone to dance with my words."
    Priceless words to live by. I may print them out and tape them all over the house.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Every writers' house can't be as dirty as mine, can it? :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you, ladies! I often wonder if I am the only one with a house this dirty/messy. I take great solace in the knowledge that I am not alone.
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Maggie -- I have breakfast every morning at the computer and don't stop until lunch time. Then I go back in the afternoon to edit. My housework suffers, but luckily, my hubby is very supportive and he'll pitch in. And that my kids are out of the house, I don't have to cook dinner as much. We eat healthy, salads and go out a few times a week. It all helps with time issues. Writing is my full time job now.
    Charlene Sands

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love this, Maggie! It helped me visualize my problem...I try to do all the sand in one day and leave the 'writing rock' for the following day when I can magically write for a long stretch of time. The result? A clean house, very little writing done. :( This has inspired me to re-train myself!!! Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I wasn't the only one who loved the line ""I'm happy to live with all the dust bunnies as long as they leave me alone to dance with my words." So true. I have tons of labrador hair floating in little clumps around the house. But I have to prioritize and am glad I have the dogs who created the "hair bunnies" to begin with!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great post, Maggie. I have to admit, I have someone who comes in every other week to clean the house, and that saves me from utter chaos. It's my reward for keeping the day job while I write four books a year for Harlequin! So I juggle a 30 hour/week day job as a technical writer (at least I can work at home), a husband, two teenage boys who are very involved in sports, and all the stuff that comes along with a household. What I sacrifice most for writing is sleep. I write for two hours every night after the house goes to sleep and sometimes that means I'm up until midnight or 1:00 AM writing. But I have to get up 6:30 AM to get the boys breakfasts, lunches, and off to school. Thanks for reminding me I'm not alone in my juggling act!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ah, Carol, I'd say you deserve the cleaning crew and perhaps a week long spa retreat! I did that with my first book and just couldn't keep up the pace of no sleep. Wow!
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  12. Charlene!
    Thank you for stopping by. You are so so so supportive! A true inspiration. You work hard, write great books, and have a great life.
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  13. Morgan
    Yes. If I don't have my solid 'rocks' in place for the day it is easy for me to fill my day with sand. I like this visual it often keeps me on track.
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  14. Pat
    I would name my dust bunnies but they seem to be multiplying too fast for me...as rabbits often do.
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hiya Maggie,
    Ah, your blog brought back the days when my kids were still home. I loved juggling everything. Now is a different time for me and to be honest, it is a bit haunting at times. The house is too quiet, the energy level sometimes need a kick in the wazoo, I may be able to bathe with the bathroom door open, but...I miss juggling some of those glass balls.
    I do wonder how the younger authors ever get any work done, though!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Maggie, I could have sworn you were writing about my life -- and my house -- today. Thank you... It can feel sometimes as though I'll never get the rhythm of the juggling act right, but I loved the analogy of the rubber vs. the glass balls. I have a lot of bouncing rubber balls around me this week (cleaning? laundry? dishes?? hmm...), but I've managed to keep the glass off the ground -- at least for now. When extended family members are about to arrive for a holiday dinner, though, suddenly the state of the kitchen turns from "rubber" to "glass," LOL. It's a form of alchemy that will happen this weekend ;).

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yes, between a day job, writing, and a family housework is not a priority here. Glad to know I'm the only one who eschews a tidy house for more writing and family time.

    ReplyDelete
  18. When the dust bunnies fade into obscurity, or at least roll beneath the dresser, our words will live on. Even if one is never 'published' imagine a great great grandchild reading about the adventure of love through her great, great grandmama's eyes.
    Priceless.
    Write on!
    Christine London
    www.christinelondon.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great post!! If only we could compartmentalize our writing time. Eight or ten or twelve hours in the office, no other worries, no other obligations, and above all - no guilt. Around our house, if the floors are clean, I have writers block or I'm trying to figure out how to write a scene. If the dust bunnies and furr balls are flying, then so are my fingers.
    Glad to know I'm not alone!

    Roz Lee

    ReplyDelete
  20. Maggie, you've slept at my house, you KNOW you're not alone in the dust bunny department ;) Great post. Lunch next week?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Maggie, I loved this! I don't even have human kids (just three of the furry variety), but taking care of them, my husband, the house, my deadlines, and everything else that makes life so enjoyable and crazy has me yearning for 48 hour days, at least. I must say I've gotten very comfortable with dust bunnies these past few years. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  22. Lynne
    Thank you for the comment. I too, most days, am happy to have the juggling act. I sometimes wonder what I did with all my time pre-kids and what I'll do with all my time once they are grown and out of the house. I would *bet* my house is no cleaner...
    xo
    Maggie

    ReplyDelete
  23. Marilynn
    Yes, that is really when our house gets a deep cleaning if there are guests coming!
    Maggie

    ReplyDelete
  24. Suzi
    I've heard about your juggling act! You are excellent at it.
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  25. Christine and Roz
    Thank you for stopping by!
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  26. Melissa
    Your home is lovely! Not messy at all. I would *love* lunch next week!!
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  27. Susan
    The kids and I desperately want to add a four-legged pet of the dog variety to our family but the hubs is resistant at this point. We will wear him down (insert evil cackle here) oh yes we will!
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  28. Love this, Maggie!! It's so hard to give yourself permission to prioritize your writing time, but when you put it that way, you make it sound easy!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. I'm entirely in agreement that housework is a "rubber" ball and family and friends are "glass." Excellent analogy!

    Thanks for a great post.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thanks, Brenda! I guess it is always a bit tricky even when it *sounds* easy.
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  31. Kym
    Thanks so much! Housework is the rubber ball in my life that seems to bounce from week to week!
    xoMaggie

    ReplyDelete
  32. What a great post! It's so true that something must give in a writer's life...and it's cleaning and sleep for me! Assuming lots of others are with me. Would love to meet a well-rested writer with a perfectly organized house. Then I would throw tomatoes at her/him.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Loved the rubber ball versus glass analogy. Now, if only I could get my spouse to understand some things have to slide...and in my case, it's housework too. Just say no.

    ReplyDelete