Writing Space

It's funny when you learn or realise something about yourself. Sometimes, it's an 'aha' moment. Other times, it's disappointment and even upsetting. And then there are those times when the discovery elicits something positive; a direction you know you can take (and maybe should've already taken) to make a part of your life easier, better, more enjoyable.

Well, this week, I learnt something that is just frustrating.

I can't write at home. Well, to be more accurate, I can't write at home during the day.

I've had the week off from work and I go back on Monday. In some ways I'm ecstatic about that. You see, as a teacher, I get a lunch period and a couple of prep periods. If I don't have anything specific to do during my preps because I'm caught up on my grading or I've already written my lesson plans for the next week or the set up for my next gym class is done I can, sometimes, take advantage of the time and get some writing done. If not what The Gotham Writer's Workshop people call 'hard writing' - actually writing the manuscript - it may be 'soft writing' which is planning out what you're going to write either by working on your outline or thinking about your characters, theme, plot, etc. Usually, though, I'll send my down time doing as much hard writing as possible.

Well, it's hard to do it at home. Maybe it's just a matter of being disciplined and sitting at my desk and writing. Maybe it's the environment or structure of my home. For those of you reading who've been to my home, you know my 'office' is a small six by six space next to the dining table in the living room. You see, we live in a two-family house with cute and cozy (read: limited space) apartments. I used to have an office upstairs but it became the nursery when my son was born. I would love to set something up downstairs but it floods when there's heavy rain (like today). Moreover, the dining room is next to, without any partition, to the living/TV room.

Up until recently, as I was finishing Back Kicks And Broken Promises, I would take to getting up at 3:00am and writing for an hour and a half to two hours before my wife and son would wake up and before it reached the point of no return for when my dog has to go out. Now, it's gotten harder to get up that early and it's gotten harder to fight off the distractions - recorded shows on DVR, a little FIFA on the Wii, kicking around on the web. In addition to the distractions, there are other legitimate things that I do and need to get down. Things around the house - laundry and cooking are largely my domain. I try to hit the gym or a workout or two a week. I've started playing squash again for fun and fitness (anyone interested in a match) and I teach a Tae Kwon Do class twice a week at night. I've also got reading to do. What writer doesn't? And, last, but definitely not least, is family time with my wife and son that includes bath time, story time and sleep time.

I know I'm not the only one to have a lot on his plate. I'm not the first and I won't be the last. I guess, maybe, I'm in a lull from having finished Back Kicks; the high being over and I'm crashing hard. So, how do I sober up? What do you guys do in situations like this? Fellow writers, I need your help.