Dealing with Criticism and Taking a Break with Fiction

 I'm dedicating the next week to working on my novel. I do have a bit to finish on a magazine article, but I've run out of ink, so until I can get to a store, I cannot print it out to send in the mail yet anyway. I've written lately about my new strategies to find time to write, and this week's altered schedule for my family may lead to a bit more time.

Secondly, I'm taking this break to work on my novel as a measure to heal. Last week was a tough one in my freelance non-fiction writing life, due to criticism. I see this pattern emerging, starting with when I was editing my high school newspaper for 2 years: my senior year, I started an underground literary magazine to balance out the journalism that kept me awake nights, in tangles with school board members, parents of school students, teachers and even my parents' friends. It continued in college, where I abandoned the newspaper altogether and instead set my sights on editing the literary journal, which I did by my senior year there. Creative writing is much safer, in my experience, and I use it as a salve to the exploits that writing nonfiction can lead to.

About 9 months ago, I wrote a blog entry about some significant controversy my freelancing led to (Lessons in Stress and Controversy), and it was the 2nd such skirmish since I began writing a year ago. And here I am again, and incidentally from the same source of criticism as one of the last two times. It doesn't get easier with time and experience. And it still remains that those closest to you can be the hardest source of criticism to deal with. Simply because it has more weight than some stranger's.

So here's to a week of trying to focus in my novel. I've got some interesting ideas and some details to strengthen the mystery in the book. All writing is a pleasure, and I don't particularly take more joy in fiction--maybe it's that my novel has yet to see light of day, so it's quite safe...for now. But should it ever get published...I'm sure it'd lead to some anxiety and criticism too!

in case you wondered what led to the criticism and conflict last week, it was the publication of Are Antibiotics During Labor Effective at Preventing Group B Strep? A friend who is a midwife told me I needed thick skin to publish about things in her world, and she was right.


Other articles I've published lately:


Power Your Electronics with Your Body's Own Movement? The nPower PEG, The First Kinetic Energy Recharger

Harnessing The Power of Waves--a Cheaper, Greener Solution to Energy Crisis

Doctor Finds Nutrient Depletion Causes Depression

Miscarriage Labor and Delivery

An Antioxidant in Chocolate Found to Help Neurological Damage after Stroke

Problems Getting Paid in British Pounds!

Note to self: Don't get paid in British Pounds!

After making multiple phone calls to my bank, and waiting for them to check with superiors and call me back, I was told the tellers at my local branch could handle cashing my check issues by a British magazine, payment for an article I wrote. The only thing was that I had to be there in person.

So I did that. But the teller did not have any idea what to do. I waited until one of the personnel in a private office was done with an appointment She said she just had to make a couple calls, but it could be cashed, after a fee. But then, before all was said and done, she said I had to wait until April to cash it! It was issued with a date of "4/1/2011." I explained that that is the way Europeans write out dates--day of the month first, followed by month. In Europe, that's Jan, 4, though to us it looks like April 1. The bank employee said she did understand that, but their machines would not be able to get around reading that date and would reject the check.

My choices: Ask the magazine to reissue a check with the date written the "American way" or just wait until April first to cash my check.

Note to self: avoid this, and the processing fee, in the future; see if magazines can issue checks written in American dollars.

How to Find More Time to Write

I was just reading a book where a writer talked about finding 9 hours a week to write (beyond his full-time job and family responsibilities), just by utilizing 15-20 minute segments here and there. It sounds nice, but it's hard trying to get my writing muscles to work under such constraints!

In my previous post, I talked about how much of the time I used to write has disappeared, but I've been slowly rearranging my life to find more time, and this post is about what success I've finally managed in finding time.

Back in September, my husband requested I get up early with him so we could do breakfast together, alone. As much as I hate early morning, I also found it gave me a bit of writing time after breakfasting and showering. But lately, as my situation has changed, I've been utilizing the early mornings to the max:

1) I put off the shower for another time during the day and instead start writing as soon as my husband leaves for work. Some days the kids sleep for an hour after my husband leaves; other days they don't.

2) I designate it as TV time when they wake up early, instead of letting them watch TV later in the morning as I used to, just to let me finish whatever I was in the midst of.

3) I prepare breakfast casseroles at night for my kids' breakfasts that I simply heat in the oven the next morning, or put steel-cut oats on the stove, letting me write while it cooks itself!

4) I've made nap time writing more predictable (after a series of weeks when my preschooler awoke after merely 45 minutes) by using a sleep training clock for him. He's now able to tell, for himself, if it's time to get up yet or whether he needs to stay in his room, try to sleep more, or quietly read a book until the clock's monkey's eyes open. This way, I've been getting one hour and forty-five minutes to write in the afternoon, sometimes shortened or interrupted by my youngest's early waking, but having to deal with only one child's early waking is much easier than two. It equals more days of writing afternoons!

5)I need to start taking an evening every couple weeks to go off by myself and write--but it's not been possible lately cuz with birthdays, Valentine's day, my writer's meetings and book club meetings. I've been gone once a week from the house already, using relatives as babysitters. Maybe after things calm down in a couple weeks, I can start writing 2 evenings a month. I very much need to get out of the house to do some of this work. My husband got me a gift card for a bookstore cafe as a Christmas gift, and I've not even used it yet!

Some weeks I ordain my morning writing segment for my novel alone, or for short articles for content websites, saving the afternoon time for magazine articles. Other times, if I have some sort of deadline, I work on only that piece until it's done. Here are some articles I've accomplished writing in my early mornings, with my new strategy for writing for content websites:

Harnessing The Power of Waves--a Cheaper, Greener Solution to Energy Crisis

How to Avoid Nutrient Depletion Caused by Your Prescription Drugs

Natural Family Planning: Success and Reliability?

Milk's Health Benefits: Highly Protective Against Diabetes and Best Sports Drink

Pregnancy Due Date: Why Do So Few Women Deliver That Day?

When All Your Time to Write Disappears...

I started freelance writing a year ago when I had some measure of predictable writing time. But the pattenr of my life has changed:
1) A dear relative used to come almost weekly, leaving me free to leave my napping children under her care so I could go to a library or bookstore and write. 2-3 hours of uninterrupted research and writing time is the only way I ever got started! I found I couldn't start any new big project with the intermittent interruptions of a waking baby or child, etc. But I could edit and rewrite during nap time after I'd been able to start the project alone one afternoon.  I no longer have the visits of that relative to give me writing time each week.

2)  I used ot write at night, after the kids were in bed, because my husband was sometimes traveling. But he's not traveling as much, so a big chunk of writing time is not accessible anymore.

3) I used to write for many hours, late into one weekend night--because my husband took our one son ot his favorite sporting event in the spring, summer and fall. But since October, that time to myself has also become obsolete.

Goodness, writing these changes down, I'm surprised I've managed to keep any momentum writing at all this winter!

I thought I'd found a partial solution when a friend wanted to do a kid swap--one day every other week, she wanted me to watch her kids while she worked, and on the other weeks, she'd watch my kids for the morning so I could write. That was only half the time i was used to, but it was certainly better than no time! But on my first turn, she had to call me to return early because it seemed my youngest was sick. And then her babysitting needs to accommodate her part-time job changed and the swap dissolved.

Since Christmas,  (7 weeks) I've had one afternoon to myself to go write. I'm feeling it in my brain fog, and in feeling overwhelmed with various projects I can't finish fast enough. I feel my output is half what it used to be.

An obvious effect is that I've simply not produced as much. For other reasons as described in other blog posts about my disappointment with the results of writing content website articles, I really cut down on that kind of writing, using the precious time I had for more lucrative, or more meaningful or lengthier projects.

My next post explores ways I've tried rearranging my life to eek out more writing time--some successful.

Here are some articles I did write online recently, after not producing much for a couple months or more:

Fun Valentine's Treats for Kids: Artificial Food Dye Free!


Power Your Electronics with Your Body's Own Movement? The NPower PEG, The First Kinetic Energy Recharger


Psychiatrist Treats Depression with Nutritional Supplements


An Antioxidant in Chocolate Found to Help Neurological Damage after Stroke


Hormone-free Milk: Dairy Companies Pledging Not to Use Artificial Bovine Growth Hormone


Fertility Drug May Prevent Conception