better than not having anything to print
3 miles. It hurt. My only consolation is knowing that every time I've started running again after a long layoff, it's taken time to get back into it. And when I say that's my only consolation, I exaggerate not.
Just to keep you up to date, I'm working on two scripts right now: the Horror Script, and my rewrite of my Thesis Script.
Jody called me last night to ask for help with printing from Final Draft. Only she works on Windoze. I actually managed to help her some, except she fixed what was wrong...and her printer was still printing pages in landscape mode instead of portrait mode. I couldn't tell whether it was an FD problem, a Windows problem, or a printer problem.
I eventually punted and said, "Call the guys at Final Draft--I'm sure they want to hear about this problem. Or maybe they've heard it before and can tell you what to do."
Of course, it dawned on me later that she was not so interested in that option because maybe she doesn't own that copy of Final Draft. But this is just speculation.
She said she had been writing--my criticism of Jody has been that she hasn't been doing any--but if only she had a life like mine, then she'd be writing all the time. It's so hard for her to find time, and then she's so tired after work...
I don't know how to deal with thinly-concealed envy. I know how to deal with open envy even less. This is my life, folks, and I don't feel like apologizing for it, though I keep running into people who seem to think I should.
And I wanted to say, although I didn't: having to work is no excuse for not writing. There's a great quote I saw on Xingcat's page today:
"It does no good to run a pig farm badly for twenty years, all the while saying, 'Really, I was meant to be a ballet dancer.' By that time, pigs will be your style."-- Quentin Crisp
Yes, it's harder, which means you have to make some decisions: are you going to get up 30 minutes earlier in the morning and write, or are you going to sleep in and then complain about not having any time? Are you going out with friends on the weekend, or are you going to cancel because you have to hunker down? Are you going to bring a pad of paper with you wherever you go, or are you going to insist that you can only work on a computer?
In fact, I'd be willing to argue that if your day is completely unstructured, it's even harder to put your butt in a chair and write. Because it's too damn easy to put it off and do something else. But you don't want to hear about that.
You're right, your life probably isn't like mine. That's no excuse for your not getting something done, though. If you're not doing it now, you won't do it at that mythical point in the future. Trust me on that one.
Today on Histeria: what was happening in the world during the reign of the Tudors.
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Copyright 1999 Diane Patterson
Send comments and questions to diane@spies.com