Down time

I have rarely felt as inspired to write as I do now, when I haven't the time.  Between preparing for Christmas, doing paid editing work, and having cable for the first time in ages, on top of my regular day job, I don't find myself with a surplus of writing time.  I am, in fact, cutting into sleeping time.

Not that I'm complaining.  I chose to take the editing job, and I choose to watch TV.  I could, just as easily, make my husband put on his headphones so I can be productive.  Instead, I move to the couch to engage in mindless entertainment*.

The point of all this rambling is that I can't write, and my brain, being, well, my brain, is therefore supplying all kinds of inspiration and writing energy that I can't use.  When I'm finished with all the editing, I expect a lot of time spent staring at the blinking cursor, grumbling about bleeding onto the page and teeth-pulling.

Down time is important, though, as I've learned and already posted about.  There is such a thing as too much down time, which is when I start dreaming about my characters growling threatening things about finishing their story or else.

I'm sure I could squeeze in a little writing time, a little creative energy.  But I like having these feast-or-famine times to remember when I'm feeling stuck.  When I'm truly in a rut, I think about how much I craved time to write, how I ached to get these words out into my Open Office document, about how it soothed me to arrange scenes just the way I wanted them.

Because, though I am suffering, when I do loose the torrent of words, there is little more satisfying than having that outlet at last.

I look forward to it.


* There are a lot of well-written television shows that help expand my creative palette, but not a single one of them makes me feel energized and smart.  Usually, I end up yelling at commercials.