Busy, busy week…

I've just had one of those weeks where I feel like I'm slighting the word "busy" by saying that I was busy. Actually, it was a bit beyond that. In fact, at one moment last night, I sat down at the kitchen table and felt like I was still moving. Very weird. And luckily, I don't feel like that every week.

Somehow, I still found the time to write several pages of first draft material for poems. Writing poetry has become such a part of my life that I don't wait for the "opportunity to write" to come to me--I just insist on filling in the writing whenever I can on a daily basis.

I scribble random lines and ideas on Post-It notes, write while I wait for the car engine to heat up (and while I'm stuck at traffic lights--and sometimes, even when I'm driving, not that I'd recommend that to anyone and would appreciate it if you don't tell my insurance agent), write late at night, write early in the morning, and I think you get the idea.

I think sometimes writers (and poets) get stuck on having "the time to write" when they should just be "writing whenever they can." Don't worry about the quality of what you write in these drafts--just write. You're going to have to revise anyway. That way, when you do have "the time to write" you can spend it polishing something you've already started writing.