Clean house
My partner has retired from the work force and now spends his days at the gym and learning guitar. That is nice for him but I'm still dividing my time between the job that pays me a salary and the job I love to do - writing. The difference between the two of us and how we allocate our time has made me thing of the topic for today's blog which is about having a clean house, literally and figuratively.
Let me first say that although he has raised a family, run multiple businesses and lived on his own, the process of cleaning the house is still relatively foreign to him. He gets a lot of credit for trying and I do understand that the tasks I ask him to do are ones he hasn't focused his time on in the past. In my family the girls did the housework and even the outside yard work but we all pitched in. In his family it was "woman's work" and he never really paid much attention to it. Even in our years together, I've been the primary caretaker for the household chores.
Now that he has the time and I don't, it is fabulous to off load some of the work. Now, if I can just learn to be patient and understand everyone has a different way of doing things and if he can just learn to meet me halfway - we'll have a cleaner house and both be happier.
I also like to have a clean house when it comes to my writing. I am only slightly (okay more than that) obsessive about organization. In my writing this translates to hours spent on the outline of the work. I may begin writing a chapter but I constantly refer back to and update the outline. I start with a very brief overview of the characters and the plot and then expand on that as I write.
This type of clean house allows me to refer back to the outline for specifics rather than having to remember facts in later chapters. Some writers may use a story board but for me I like a written time line and a comprehensive outline. I can't imagine writing the novel and keeping everything in my head but I'm sure there are some who are capable of that. My outline was also the first place I went when I needed to write the synopsis. It gave me the high points and I could pull what I needed to keep the synopsis to a few pages rather than a few dozen.
So on this Labor Day weekend, I hope that your physical surroundings are clean, your mind is clear and you have a wonderful and safe three days.
Leslie
Let me first say that although he has raised a family, run multiple businesses and lived on his own, the process of cleaning the house is still relatively foreign to him. He gets a lot of credit for trying and I do understand that the tasks I ask him to do are ones he hasn't focused his time on in the past. In my family the girls did the housework and even the outside yard work but we all pitched in. In his family it was "woman's work" and he never really paid much attention to it. Even in our years together, I've been the primary caretaker for the household chores.
Now that he has the time and I don't, it is fabulous to off load some of the work. Now, if I can just learn to be patient and understand everyone has a different way of doing things and if he can just learn to meet me halfway - we'll have a cleaner house and both be happier.
I also like to have a clean house when it comes to my writing. I am only slightly (okay more than that) obsessive about organization. In my writing this translates to hours spent on the outline of the work. I may begin writing a chapter but I constantly refer back to and update the outline. I start with a very brief overview of the characters and the plot and then expand on that as I write.
This type of clean house allows me to refer back to the outline for specifics rather than having to remember facts in later chapters. Some writers may use a story board but for me I like a written time line and a comprehensive outline. I can't imagine writing the novel and keeping everything in my head but I'm sure there are some who are capable of that. My outline was also the first place I went when I needed to write the synopsis. It gave me the high points and I could pull what I needed to keep the synopsis to a few pages rather than a few dozen.
So on this Labor Day weekend, I hope that your physical surroundings are clean, your mind is clear and you have a wonderful and safe three days.
Leslie
Comments
Post a Comment