by Linda O. Johnston
I’m a writer, and I’m a fan of time—but sometimes it stumps me. Kicks me in the butt. Gives me a hard… time.
For one thing, time in stories is a major factor. How long will the story go on? How old is the protagonist, and will they age much in it?
And what is the time when the story takes place: contemporary times? Historical? Sometime in the future?
And then there’s my own time. I’m good at fulfilling deadlines, but sometimes I really have to work at it.
In fact, one of the reasons I swapped the date for my post this month is because I was determined to finish a first draft of a novel I’m currently working in, with a deadline approaching, and I was focusing mainly on that.
But I’m generally used to dealing with time and finding ways to handle it. For example, years ago when my kids were young and I was practicing law, I got up an hour earlier than the others in my household and wrote then. And a while later, when I wound up having to commute for more than an hour each way every day for my law job, I’d already started getting published, so I’d head very early to my job and hide in my office for an hour before starting to work—and everyone knew I was writing then and left me alone.
And now? Hey, I’ll stop writing this soon and get into the edits of that manuscript I mentioned. I did finish a very rough first draft, but there’s lots more work to do.
How about you? How do you deal with time in your life and writing or other work?
The Writers in Residence 
Nice, piece, Linda. Time is, indeed, of the essence for a writer when we often have to snatch a few minutes here and there between other parts of our lives. I’d never thought of counting time, however, because it seems to me it is the antithesis of the creative mind. But I could be wrong – probably am!!
jill
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We can be creative in so many ways, Jill, including our use of time inside and outside of our stories!
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Ah, time. That elusive entity that we try to conquer, then life gets in the way. As for me, I write when I know what the story is about. Sometimes I have to think about the twists and turns and iron out those bumps in the plot that get in the way of the story. But sometimes those bumps are just what I need to throw into the plot because I can’t have my private detective have smooth sailing. After all, the villain is tossing in a few monkey wrenches along the way. So, I think about the plot and then sit down and type some more…unless something comes up that needs to be handled first. That’s the life of a writer.
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I agree, Gayle. We can try to figure everything out first, but lots can get in the way–including time!
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Time is like a variable speed drill – it moves slowly, usually when you’re impatient, and it races along when you want it to slow down. All the while it keeps moving, in real life as well as in writing. Fortunately we have more control over time on the page than in life. We can slow it down to create tension, or intimacy, speed it up to create excitement, or fast forward past the unnecessary bits to the key moments.
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Excellent analysis, Miko. And another reason it’s fun to be a writer.
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From Hannah — Your post really resonated with me Linda! I am constantly trying to figure out how to manage my time – my job, my writing, my family commitments. I feel permanently scattered. One thing that hadn’t occurred to me until I read your post, is that all my mysteries take place over a short period of time – maybe 5 days with the denouement happening a week later. However, the women’s fiction book I’m tackling spans six months. The first is immediate and the pace is fast; the second is a slow burn. Food for thought! Thank you.
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Ah – time management – not my favorite subject! Linda, you seem to manage your time so well. I am always chasing time. Trying to find more of it. Spending far too much time wrestling technical challenges, such as making comments on our Blog! I regularly appear to be prevented from posting comments, so I give up and try the next day and the day after that. As happens now. Let’s see if this one works. But that’s why I like to write about the past – where my only concern is making sure my historical time lines are accurate. Great post – if a painful reminder. Thanks Linda!
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