Writing Articles

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Papering over the cracks

Here I am, trying to get on with it. But, and it’s a fairly large 'but', some things don't seem to have changed. It can be difficult working from home with all the distractions of spring cleaning, and the just one more cup of coffee syndrome. Maybe I’ll pretend I’m on Millionaire and phone a friend. And, yes, housework can be tempting when looking at the scary face of a blank page. I kid you not!
One week into a new venture and I’m beginning to see the cracks. I have been working as a freelance for some time and my husband thought it would good to give up his paid nine to five job to work from home like me. To be fair, he has built up a portfolio of other work to do and we won’t be living on a shoestring, at least not for a while yet. We might be on a bread and water diet by next Christmas. Losing a bit of weight won’t hurt; it could make our work efforts leaner and meaner in the process.
We have tried to do all the right things like writing a business plan, getting organised, and read life coaching books till we are spouting clichés which all the ‘how to write’ books tell us not to do. ‘Ditch all the theory and just get on with it’ must be the best advice we have been given.
Having organised the chores, fed our assorted menagerie of animals, ignored the dishes in the sink and the fluff on the carpet, I am ready to write. That’s when I realise that somehow very quietly, on tip-toe, my husband must have sloped off right after breakfast to do his own thing in the study. He's gained a good hour’s start on me. He’s also bagged the best computer, with the executive high back leather chair. That leaves me with the laptop on the dining room table and a wooden seat.
At least I have all my writing files on my memory stick. Thank heaven for technology, no more fighting over the best quill pen and parchment. Still, we are both working, aren’t we? Well, no, as it turns out. A sneaky peak into the study shows hubby hunched over a hot computer playing Solitaire. I bite my tongue and quietly shut the door.
Not wanting to ignite the blue touch paper of domestic rows, I retreat to my laptop and energised with smouldering anger, tear off a quick piece to the local newspaper about home workers and techniques on being both productive and successful.
Following my own established guidelines I slide the first draft, complete with glaring spelling mistakes, into a drawer. Next day I go to it fresh and edit out all the incorrect spelling and grammar, set out the document as per the newspaper’s requirements, rewrite it and give it a final polish. Then pop it into an envelope, having printed out the postage from the Internet.
The Royal Mail website at www.royalmail.com provides another helping hand for busy writers. You don’t even have to set up an account. Simply access their website and buy what you need with a credit or debit card. Almost any type of postage can be printed out via your printer directly onto your envelope. You can also buy books of stamps to be posted to you. Then you find a mail box, pop your precious missive in and off it goes.
The manuscript details, date, type, word count and destination, are entered into my Manuscript Log. My next trick is to use a special type of memory loss and forget about manuscripts work sent out. This way I do not spend fruitless minutes wondering if the item arrived, if the editor has read it or if it has been thrown in the bin.
I followed this principle with my ire-fuelled article and was pleasantly surprised when it was accepted along with the query, ‘have you any more in this ilk?’
Whilst I can’t guarantee to get mad at hubby every day, having him working from home has certainly given one area of my work a kick start. So it’s back to the life coaching books and the familiar cliché of triumph over adversity. Which just goes to show what you can achieve when you are focused, energised and you want to express yourself without committing grievous bodily harm!
Why not find something that gets you stirred up and champing at the bit? Then try writing that article idea which has been simmering for so long on the back burner that it has almost turned to toffee. Writing it will give you all the freedom of so-called stream of consciousness writing but with the bonus of having a recognisable article to lick into shape by the end of it.
If not, blame me and the life coaching gurus that have wasted your time. But I bet there is something useable within it, so give it a polish and see what shines back at you. It worked for me.
A cautionary footnote: I only showed the article to hubby when I was clutching the payment cheque in my hand!