My day is ruined and it is not even nine o'clock yet.
There I was fired up with pride and motivation to attend to my neglected blog (and not quite- so -neglected-but-still-in-need-of-an-apology novel) by the fact that yesterday I made the official decision to work four days a week for the forseeable future so that I had some time to write. I had worked hard to overcome my (wholly unrealistic) fear of penury in retirement if I didn't work every day going. I had braved the (percieved but probably non-existent) stigma of not takng my career seriously. I had resisted the pull of the Trafford Centre (and the quilting shop I found at the weekend. The one at the end of the picturesque country drive. The one with the very nice craft farm and teashop down the road....)
And all this I had done because writing takes time, right? It takes working at and editing and revising and putting up with the neck pain from being hunched over a computer all day. It takes dedication and the willingness both to bear the risk of RSI and to pay the now exorbitant charges for the electricty gobbled up by your laptop while you sit there eating yet another chocolate biscuit and wondering: what happens next?
Apparently not. Whilst I was still munching my breakfast bagel ( cinnamon and raisin since you wonder) and happily contemplating a day culminating in me feeling extremely worthy for my application at the keyboard, I made the mistake of scanning the Times, which quotes Jordan being interviewed in US Vogue. Asked about the writing method that produced her best selling book she said,
"I talk. I'm not going to say I sit there with a pen and paper - I don't think anyone does that. I haven't got time for a typewriter or whatever."
I am clearly deluded. The problem is that in order to acheive dedicated writing time I have also chosen a day when I can clear the house of all distractions. That is to say, I have made my husband go out. So Solomon, our teddy bear, is in for a long day of listening. At least when I fail to knock Dan Brown and Sharon Osbourne off the charts I can blame his lack of editorial imput.
