Time is On My Side After All!

Guest post by Beth Ann Farley

Most of us are familiar with that Beatles song, Time is on my Side. I know it well and have to say that most often, time is not on my side. Sometimes I have to escape the madness, and retreat to my quiet zone to be able to write.

I have a desk set up in a spare bedroom, but unfortunately the room also houses my husband’s computer. Frequently our schedules overlap, and we find ourselves trying to work at the same time. He has a hard time hearing so he blasts the speakers and I, the loving wife, try very hard to keep patient. But many times I fail. Those are the times when I get really frustrated.

My biggest writing challenge is finding quiet in my day to actually gather up all of those notes—and thoughts I’ve managed to hang onto—and put them into a story that reads well. For example, every day this past week I worked from 8 AM to 1 PM performing very labor intensive work. I came home each day, set out to get my list of home chores to be done and before you knew it, it was time for bed. I had no energy to even think straight, much less be creative with my writing.

Know what I did? I prayed. I sat and cried and prayed for God to give me the energy to write. I allowed myself the needed rest and chose to get up extra early the next several days and write. I was more refreshed after a good night’s sleep. Here are some other things I do when I need to escape the chaos of my home and push aside my list of to do’s.

• I camp out at a book store or library (not the one I work at). I love the change of atmosphere and although there is some light talking, I don’t pay any attention to it. It has nothing to do with me. Camping out there also allows me some resources right at my fingertips.

• I take my notebook and pen and go to the pool. Our community pool is usually very quiet and I sit under the shaded area and write. I will visit a park in the fall when the pool is closed.

• I get up very early now and sit in my backyard with my first cup of coffee and write.

God has called me to this, so He will provide the time I need. I can’t say that I have a regular time frame for writing because I have a part time job, and my health is sometimes up and down. I just take the moments He gives me and pound away at the keys.

What do you do when you are just dragging and yet you have so much to write about or have deadlines to meet?

Beth Ann Farley lives in Kansas City, MO with her husband and six grown children and 13 grandchildren. She writes for bookfun.org; Too’n town magazine and the Mid-Continent Public Library. She has also been published with Landline magazine & Teachers In Focus. Her poetry has been published in Sweet Freedom written by Jennifer Slattery. She also co-hosts, with four other ladies, Living by Grace, a faith-based Facebook community. Visit her online at: http://firsthalfday1.wordpress.com.