Wednesday, February 3, 2021

February IWSG 2021

 


Another IWSG day, and another snowfall! Yesterday, I saw plenty of jokes on how every day is like Groundhog Day, and I swear, I thought I had an idea for a post today until I read my December IWSG post and realized I'd be repeating myself. Sigh. 

Anyhoo, let me thank the host of this here par-tay: Alex J. Cavanaugh and his cohort of cohosts: Louise - Fundy Blue , Jennifer Lane, Mary Aalgaard, Patsy Collins at Womagwriter, and Nancy Gideon!

This month's optional question is about blogging and friendships. There are many wonderful bloggers I've been in contact with over the years, but my brain is locked in other areas, so I will skip it this month.

Today I'm wondering: How long can you be on a writing hiatus and still consider yourself a writer?

When I first started writing, my girls were three and one years old. The three-year-old went to a preschool in the morning and my husband took my one-year-old on two-hour shopping trips twice a week so I could write. What a guy.

I used that time wisely and cranked out a first draft (what a mess) in a matter of months. Later, when the kids were in grade school (and rode the bus!!!), I might have seven hours to write, five days a week. What a windfall. Those were the golden years and I should have appreciated them more. 

Then came middle school and the bus became the ninth circle of hell, apparently. My time started to dwindle as evening time started to shift to more and more homework help.

Skip ahead to today. High School. Pandemic. Hybrid schedule with in-person classes only two days a week. I've come full circle, and yet that is not true. I haven't been using those precious, quiet hours to write. Yesterday, I spent them drafting a study guide for AP Chemistry, Unit Four on Lewis Dot Structures, Lattice Energy, and Bond Enthalpies. Not quite as exciting as writing fiction, let me tell you. 

But I'm a former professor who loves her kids and will do anything I can to help them through this current state of educational chaos.

Am I still a writer? 

Are you?



Snow, Clouds, and Christmas Lights at dusk from my front door.