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Write on Time
by Kay Bolden

When my 3-year-old goes to playgroup, he is served breakfast, lunch and snacks at precise times. He eats heartily during each meal and then runs happily back to the finger paints, not giving food another thought until the next dining adventure.

But if he's home all day with me, he grazes. A half-eaten apple, a bite of graham cracker, a bit of yogurt. A handful of raisins, a plateful of French fries. Pseudo-meals that all blur together in some kind of nibble netherworld, leaving him full -- but still unsatisfied -- at the end of the day.

My writing, too, sometimes suffers from home-all-day-itis. If I'm working without a deadline, the sense of having plenty of time can easily morph into writer's grazing.

I know I've been grazing instead of writing when:

• A possible query to a food magazine leads to a recipe search, a stint at the stove, and consumer research about digital cameras -- because the magazine prefers photos with articles.

• A quick check of my online horoscope becomes a marathon tutorial on reading the Tarot and casting runes. (Research for some future article, of course. Or maybe an offbeat interest my fictional heroine will develop.)

• I've spent 90 minutes editing and rewriting a 2-paragraph email.

• I've cropped and resized my picture on my writing site. Again.

• I've been very, very busy all day -- but I don't feel satisfied.

Copyright © 2002 Kay Bolden

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