Investing Time

   Do you recall the opening stanza of the 1964 Rolling Stones hit Time is on your side, yes, it is? I’m sure that soundtrack is now playing in your mind. I also have to shake my head. Time is not on anyone’s side. Writers definitely can attest to that truth. Many authors will openly admit that their characters will whisper to them at all hours. Many of us lose sleep trying to keep up and journal the plot.

  Time management can be difficult as a writer. Maybe not for the big names, whose career is putting words into books. Most of the lesser-known authors are only part-time writers. I, for one, have a full-time “day” job. Unfortunately, I can’t dedicate as much time as I would like at a keyboard. I’m not complaining, just explaining.

  To be fair, a big name has to have other interests. It doesn’t matter who we’re talking about, most writers base their adventures on experiences. I’m sure many are familiar with one of my literary idols and influences. Clive Cussler wrote many books. One of his lesser-known achievements was his help in discovering historical artifacts. Cussler dedicated a lot of time and money to find the CSS Hunley, a Confederate submarine that was lost during the Civil War. As I reflect on that; it makes it a little easier to justify the time it takes to create a novel.

 I feel like I have to steal time to write. There are so many other duties that distract me from my writing space. I’m a confirmed bachelor, so besides my 55+ hour-a-week job, I have the domestic duties of running a house. I’m also an antique tractor enthusiast, and my collection draws my attention. I can’t judge the tractors, too harshly though. Tractor collecting was the catalyst for my journalism. I’ve taken on two types of writing. Committing to only one might be easier, but I’ve never been known to do anything easy.

  As far as sleepless nights are concerned, I’m not sure that’s a wise course for me. Getting back to my primary occupation, I drive a semi-truck. I don’t think the general public wants me falling asleep at the wheel of a forty-ton speeding truck. My characters do whisper to me late into the night, but sometimes I wrongly ignore them. It’s frustrating, it’s also the reason I take longer on a work in progress.

  My vision of an author has modernized. I used to see someone sitting at a typewriter furiously transforming thoughts onto paper. Nowadays I envision someone at a laptop. I would have wasted a lot of paper if I had written in the old style.  There are other modern technologies I could take advantage of, like voice-to-text. That’s a cheat in my mind. Even though I’m not a fast typist, I don’t feel like an author if I’m not using my fingertips.

  I don’t like to be a novelist using my smartphone to write either. That’s hypocritical, on my part. That’s my standard tool to create a blog article for Antique Iron Media. Of course, as a blogger, I use another writing cheat. I use pictures. That’s a justification for using my smartphone as a blogging tool. Lately, I have been using my smartphone as a very rough draft for my work in progress. My characters realize they can’t wake me in the wee hours, but they do share with me during idle moments waiting in grain lines. I’m so glad the characters and I came to an understanding. They lifted their restraining order and we’re back in full cooperation again. There is still frustration from both sides though.

  There is another time theft that comes into play once the book has been published. Time needs to be dedicated to promotion and sales. That’s not so terrible unless you’re a two-style writer. Fellow author Cindy Ladage has this same time management conflict. We both are creating ways to sell books and write about our blogging interests in combination. So far, it almost works. What’s bad is when a book event and tractor event occur on the same date. Such an event pairing is happening in August. Cindy discovered a book fair happening locally, unfortunately it’s on the same weekend as a big tractor event that needs to be written about.

  It’s impossible to be two places at once. Personally, I’m glad there aren’t two of me. One is scary enough! I was supposed to be at the big tractor show, but I’m going to sell books instead. I have mixed feelings. I’ll miss a great opportunity to write for my blog, but my time will be better used at a book fair. Since Cindy and I partner up to sell books together, this option will be the next best alternative to clones.

   The Rolling Stone’s song may not be written about time in this sense. After my explanation, it is easy to see that Time is not on your side.

   Life isn’t easy, it’s what we make of it

Rick Shaw