Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Color Coded Madness Interrupted

I'm revising my current WIP. I've highlighted it in various colors based on the fabulous Margie Lawson EDITS system and her EMPOWERING CHARACTERS' EMOTIONS. I've used DABS and scored through the manuscript.

I am ready. Ready to begin this new challenge of powering up my writing.

But the world is pressing in on all sides (wait that's a plot thing, right?) and I'm unable to smoothly, quickly, efficiently move through my revision. I'm lucky if I get a passage revised, let alone a scene or a chapter. Why? Why is the world making me want to throw my sharpie highlighters against the wall and scream?

Easy answer: teenager at home under my feet. She sleeps till noonish so I have a bit of time in the morning to shape up my manuscript. But as soon as she emerges from her cave, sleepy-eyed and hair a wild tangled mess, I switch off my revisions and I let the house be noisy, crazy, loud. I let the days be lazy, busy, crowded.

I can turn on my writing time again in the morning, in the still of the pre-dawn hours, but I can't recapture the valuable time I have with my teenager. I know watching silly shows like Toddlers & Tiaras or Top Model aren't always considered quality events, but it's not the quality per say, it's the meeting her where she is that counts.

She'll remember that I just hung out with her in her world, with her friends, reading her favorite books, laughing together at funny Tumblr posts, shopping, being silly. And long after I'm gone, I hope she will cherish the fact that no matter what, no matter where, no matter when she needed me, I was there for her.

4 comments:

Gwen Hernandez said...

This is a great reminder, Christine. We can't get back our time with them. Enjoy the rest of summer with her!

Christine said...

Thanks Gwen. We're almost there. It's been long because she had the mono, too. So she's been home since April except for testing days. The tornadoes messed a lot of us up as well. But I am sloggin' through the MS one page at a time and not worrying about speed till she returns to school next week.

I'm enjoying her so much. She's a great person.

:-)

Katherine Bone said...

Christine, I'm going through that now too, what with last week and the blessing of having all my children at home at the same time!!! (You see the glass is quite full!) What a joy it has been to have the family together again. So, while I battle a small health hurdle, I've been cuddling with my grandsons, enjoying meals with my children. Spending time just watching them interact with all of us. Oh, and did I forget to mention that two of my children brought their dogs with them? I now have 3 cats and 2 dogs in the house.

But it's all worth it in the end. Death comes all too quickly. As I ponder my life and my priorities, I'm focusing on my family right now. When all is said and done, they are all that matters.

Enjoy this time with your daughter. School begins soon and you'll have your days back. And when she gets home, you'll be quite ready to share your time again. Blessings!

Christine said...

Enjoy your family and rest. Time enough for being solo and spending all our time writing.

Many hugs. I know it has been a tough few weeks.

:-)