Friday, June 24, 2005

Writing as Work

It is always hard to convince others that writing is work just like any other job/carreer.

Usually, at home, I sit in my office (or whatever room I've put the computer in) and there I write in my solitude.

However, now I am visiting my family and am not staying at home. I have yet to get straight ten minutes work without someone "interrupting." I've put interrupting in quotation marks because, bless their hearts, they always have good intentions. My father can pop his head and ask if I want a fruit, my mother wants me to join her for tea, other family members ask what I do, and in general, between trying to be polite to the people I love most in the world but also trying to get some writing done, the writing loses out.

If I had an office I would go to outside the house then they would understand that. But sitting at home and surfing, which is what they think I do, does not compute into work, and so interrupting is okay.

All I have left to do, after explaining for the kazillionth time that I'm working, is to smile, accept the fruit offer, coffee and cake, ice-cream or whatever other food they want to throw at me, chit chat with them, smile, kiss and hug them, hoping to catch up on work when I get home.

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4 comments:

Ecks Ridgehead said...

Hi Melly

Thanks for visiting me up on the windblown Ridge. This is a nice blog you have here...and your observations on others' attitudes towards writing as work are very astute!

Melly said...

Thanks Ecks :)

In fact, I think I was interrupted about ten times -- okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, but not much -- while I was writing that post...

Patry Francis said...

You have just described my life. The worst part for me is friends who say they support my writing but then call during "work hours" and are annoyed when I don't pick up.

Melly said...

You're better than me then. I usually end up picking up the phone, but then I sound short and annoyed.