What's Your Path?

This morning I drove Kid2 to preschool as I do twice a week. The school we chose is a wonderful program where the kids get a lot of outdoor time and creative art and game playing. The downside is this school is 25 minutes one way from my house, and that's without traffic. So I've perfected the art of driving her there in the shortest amount of time so I can get home in the shortest amount of time and have as much time to myself as I can to do things like write books. And blog posts.

There are many routes to the preschool, each with different pros and cons. You've got the shortest way, the long way with all the hills and pretty trees, the almost-shortest way that goes through a lot of traffic and a school zone where you must slow down to 20 mph and sometimes dodge teenagers, the middle way that hits the interstate and passes a gas station and drive-through restaurant, and the really long way via the grocery store that is hands down my least favorite, for obvious reasons. Writing a book is like that too. You've got short ways and long ways and reasons to favor all those ways based on your schedule and needs.

Got a tight schedule and lots of contracts? You're gonna be hitting the short road time and again, figuring out the latest possible departure time and where there's never any cops just in case you want to, I don't know, speed a little bit. But you're going to miss out on scenery, and if you're running low on gas--watch out. Got something new in the works you're mulling over? Scenic route! Inspiring natural beauty, less stress and traffic, more time to converse with your protagonists about how their day went. Need to restock your proverbial shelves or run a manuscript through more wringers? Then the crappy grocery store route is all about you, with the bonus being it's less crowded early in the morning and hey, you were out and about anyway, right? Two birds, one stone, no more typos, and a full pantry.

I've written books in all different ways and in my humble opinion all the books, in the end, are equally good. I've written manuscripts in a couple months and I've written manuscripts in a couple years. Leisurely books and frenetic books. There's no right and wrong path to a book, although there are ways that will stress you out or make you miss a deadline or end up with you off in the weeds, looking at pretty trees, or require you to dress in something other than sweatpants and a slompy T-shirt, not to mention do SOMETHING with your hair, OMG. The trick is to choose the right route for your current schedule and not to always pick the same route if you have options, because falling into autopilot on the same road going to the same place at the same time of day can result in -- let's just say a fender bender and leave it at that.

Metaphorically speaking, of course. I'm an excellent driver. *shifty eyes*

What's your path to writing a book? Got any time-saving or scenery-enhancing secrets to share?

Jody Wallace
So much cyberspace, so little time!
www.jodywallace.com / www.meankitty.com