My writing life

It seems to be the thing to do these days, blogging about writing. At least for me. Since I started taking this writing "career" of mine seriously, I am learning a lot from the other people. So I thought I'd chronicle my experiences on this blog, amongst all the other things I blog about.

Writing time
In the last few weeks, I've gained truckloads of respect for some of my fellow writers. I'm talking about the brave guys and gals holding down a day job, running a family and keeping up with the Joneses inbetween producing staggeringly beautiful and creative works of fiction (and non-fiction).

As many people here in South Africa know, full time writing as a South African is limited to a privileged few. Many SA authors have to have a day job, or at least do freelance work in order to pay the bills and put food on the table. Include in this those pesky social responsibilities and you're not left with much time to do what you love.

Most of us, I assume, try to do the next best thing. We declare "me-time" or "writing-time" where we switch off the internet, hide our cellphones and lock ourselves in a room to write write write. We also steal a few moments here and there. A quick email to oneself with a great line you thought of while stuck in a meeting, planning characters while stuck in Joburg traffic or making a quick note in one of the myriad of notebooks secreted in and around your daily living space.

Thanks to these moments, I have a wonderfully developed world for my Fantasy novel, with many fine details ironed out, and although my word count hasn't even broken 10 000 (officially) I have a good idea where this story is going.

Now if only I could find a way to make it unnecessary for me to sleep, and all will be well in this world.