Hail To The Weekend Writers

All the buzz around leaks notions of freelance writing and beginning your empire. Whether it be small time or the dream of something substantial we all envision greatness. But for those of us that love writing however, are wedged in the middle of life must find another slant. I keep hearing that approach is so important and will help to define who you are as a writer and quite possibly a person.

That is where my distress smolders. Finding an angle and approach feels great but usually short lived, possibly only thriving on the weekends. That is my life for now. Yet I can only imagine I am not alone. Can I get a ‘hell yah!’ Or at least I am hoping for one. Don’t leave me out on a limb.

That is how I start my Saturday and if the inspirations continue flowing, frequently Sunday. No time to sleep in only time to get to work. So bright and early the imagined rooster’s crow forcefully schlepps me right from the warmth of my cozy resting place I refer to as my bed. No one in the house understands or has a clue of why my internal clock buzzes so damned early on a weekend often before most even realize they are still aimlessly wondering this world blissfully unconscious. This is not a weekend writer’s syndrome; but rather the syndrome of a writer. Ideas flow greatly while the mind attempts to rest almost bursting as they overflow into the wee hours of the morning. The perpetual hope is that when those words without notice spew out of every open crevice that they hit some unknowing blank page in an attempt to not be lost and flushed away like the last fleeting thought.

I have found that I have so many ideas but so little time. No worry, that is not the problem, I can only pump out a few thousand words at any given moment. More so, I find my weekend hiatuses focusing on quality not quantity. All good writers develop over time, great ones learn from their own mistakes along the way.

Ideas are sure to come and go, but one thing is for certain when writing on a limited basis one must stay focused. Not like the kid that runs amuck in Burger King while you are trying to enjoy your tenth Whopper of the year, but in a more collective fashion. Try to avoid starting too many projects at once that will likely lead to several undone pieces of work and possibly evoke ideas in some loved ones minds that something more devious is occurring, possibly could ensue an intervention of some sorts. Instead use your week at work to sort out the ideas you would like to use as weekend challenges. Working methodically through ideas will afford complete and solid work.

When thoughts ramble through like a young child searching for a lost toy don’t get lost in the mess, make it simple, take notes. As you all know the bubbles of ideas that float through the air and must be captured before a strong wind carries them to oblivion surface at the most inconvenient times. Possibly in the shower or while on the toilet but none-the-less ideas come at a time when taking notes may be at the least a struggle. Don’t fret, try and record those ideas the best you can with clean hands and expand upon them during those early mornings hours discussed earlier. Not all ideas are meant to pan out but many of them do, so go with the whims of my mind allowing it to freely create. If you decide to only write on a limited basis you will never be shy of ideas as there is always one stored for later.

Funny I thought about this section, but recently the direction of my future has been on my mind and a valuable question to ponder. I really would like to contribute my ideas to the world just as any other writer. Yet my deliverance may look different when compared to others as I have a full time job aside from writing. Though writing is one of my passions but I can only manage one thing at a time despite my mind arguing the facts. So recently it came to me. I am a writer, possibly of the freelance nature but at this time my contributions appear sporadically, which may come across as different to some. Well, I am used to being ‘different’ at this point of my life as that has always been my story and thereby my slant in life. I am all right at the present being a weekend warrior and I hope that is all right with those that tirelessly work at this as a fulltime gig. Though, I hope to gain followers of all sorts but most importantly those who also fall in this hidden laundry basket in the basement. No longer will I strive to become the next latest and greatest, but I will expel greatness working with the hourglass provided. By no means will I lose my touch by taking on this outlook; I am just not into blowing it up to something it is not. I embrace my part-time kind of writing.

I have been stuck for days about what to write and finally the path least swept or traveled came over me. Maybe today is my freeing moment. I must not pump out more than my brain can fathom. I will not seek to create a masterpiece out of mush. Oh, that mush is my brain after work. I have worked against my analytical brain in so many ways. Day in and day out I think very technical and analytically, by the time I come home the creativity has been comfortably tucked in bed for hours. It finally came to me – thinking as I do is a death sentence for creativity. Before I recognized the natural way my brain processes, I struggled. Not to mention at times I almost wanted to give up sensing that my talents only lived inflated in my mind and that I had nothing to offer.

Until recently when I recognized that I was trying to adopt someone else’s direction and opinion by allowing those negative critics to work overtime in my own life. Those critics worked tremendously hard to tell me what I am not but surely didn’t help me to find who I am meant to be. Planting a new seed does not grow without water and weeds are definitely detrimental. So I woke this morning with a great big watering can, my gardening gloves and went to work. Now I must say that I pulled the weeds from their pesky solid root bases and vehemently tossed them in the trash as I have so many times before. Then I sat and watered so carefully the seeds that I hope to harvest and watch grow.

Get out there and allow the wind to flow through your overworked and tired strands of shimmering locks. Recharge your batteries that drained throughout the week’s hustle and bustle. Do something you love. If that love is writing, I encourage that you embark on that journey not as a deadline to meet or and empire to build. But get out and run the race you are meant to be in making sure to carefully remain in your lane but with the knowledge and confidence that in time the race you run may certainly be competitively compared to the greats in this business.

I ride with the sureness that my time will come, just as those before me. I am here to learn what I can as I go and I have some great leaders and mentors. I am running my race while recognizing where I am and where I need to be. Because I write on the weekends does not constitute lifeless talents that are any less or unworthy it just means I have a different path and one I must covet without worry of another’s footsteps. Yet I found myself one time lost and my seed without nourishment all the while allowing my weeds to grow beyond their expected stay.

Word to those weekend warriors – learn what you can in this business, run your race and keep your eye on your seeds as they grow and be careful of those pesky weeds – they grow fast.

Happy writing.