7:48 a.m. Wake up to sounds of whining 3-year-old son.
8:03 a.m. Get son’s breakfast together, feed cat, make coffee, drink coffee while son eats breakfast, get son dressed.
8:43 a.m. Drive son to pre-school.
9:16 a.m. Settle in for two hours of quality writing time. Turn on computer, check emails, and notice that childhood friend has sent link to New York Times story about Obama. Read article and become unsure of why he sent it to you. Write back, “I’m not sure why you sent this to me.” Figure he’ll respond when he gets around to it.
9:23 a.m. Open Word document for first chapter of book and begin reading first paragraph of what’s supposed to be a best-seller but reads like college non-fiction assignment. Get discouraged and get up for second cup of coffee.
9:40 a.m. Finish coffee and decide what you really need is a shower. Take shower and get dressed.
10:10 a.m. On way to writing desk, grab book of a similar topic that you’ve been reading for comparison purposes. Open it at desk and notice the way the “1” is placed on the page to signify “Chapter 1.”
10:25 a.m. Put finishing touches on the “1” to signify “Chapter 1,” in 36-point Calibri. Go back to reading first paragraph, taking out a “because” and breaking up a long sentence into two. Decide that you’d rather work on Chapter 2 right now.
10:32 a.m. Open Word document for second chapter of book, which details subject’s childhood in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and begins with image of hot-air balloons in the sky during the city’s annual Balloon Fiesta. Go to Google and type in “Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.” Click on homepage for event and begin reading about Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Decide that it’s too difficult to find simple information you need — number of balloons in the sky, how long fiesta lasts each day, how many accidents there have been — and go back to Google before clicking on Wikipedia page for event. Find two facts worthy of including in paragraph detailing Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and put them in Chapter 2 Word document as notes.
10:48 a.m. Look at clock and realize you have to leave for preschool in 12 minutes and you should probably go to the bathroom first.
11 a.m. Leave for preschool.
11:18 a.m. Return from preschool and find out from wife that you are all going to neighbor’s house for parent-supervised “play date.”
11:26 a.m. In car on way to neighbor’s house, tell wife all about newest approach to Chapter 2 and how the balloon fiesta imagery should work perfectly as a symbolic entry point for the subject’s early life, signifying his need for escape and yearning for freedom. Notice that wife would rather talk about faucet choices for upcoming kitchen renovation.
2:17 p.m. Return from play date and agree to watch child while wife goes to Target, Home Depot and Costco for “an hour or so.”
4:21 p.m. Receive phone call from wife, who “lost track of time” at Costco but would “be home soon.”
5:13 p.m. Begin making dinner for child.
5:21 p.m. Welcome wife back from errand run, help putting away groceries, finish cooking dinner, sit down at dining room table.
5:53 p.m. While eating dinner with wife and child, respond to wife’s question about what is on TV tonight by saying, “I don’t know, but I really should get some writing done.” Experience mild frustration when she replies, “Didn’t you get writing done this morning?” Answer, “Well, I guess so. More research than anything else at this point.” Continue to eat dinner.
6:38 p.m. Sit down in front of computer again and open file for Chapter 2. Look at first sentence, change “hovered” to “floated,” and then go back to coffee pot, pour a mug, and heat in microwave for 45 seconds. Go to bathroom.
6:43 p.m. Stare at first sentence of Chapter 1 for a few minutes. Decide that maybe it would be better to go with original first paragraph, which you had put at bottom of file yesterday. See that one of your friends whose opinion you respect in editorial manners is on Instant Messenger. Send instant message asking which opening he prefers. Go back and forth with opinions until he agrees with you that yesterday’s paragraph is the better one. Replace today’s paragraph with yesterday’s at top of page.
7:14 p.m. Re-read opening with yesterday’s paragraph and decide to stick with today’s. Replace yesterday’s with today’s at top of page. Close out of Instant Messenger. Remind self that voice needs to be more literary even though it’s supposed to be that of a professional athlete in an autobiography. Remember that Pulitzer Prize-winning author J.R. Moehringer ghost-wrote Andre Agassi’s autobiography. Go to Amazon, find that book, and click on “search inside this book” to see how Moehringer approached the prose. Begin reading the opening of the Agassi book and quickly become jealous of Moehringer’s writing. Notice that Agassi book is written in present tense. Decide there’s no way your book can be done in present tense. Figure you might want to talk to Moehringer about how he came to that conclusion. Go to Wikipedia to find out what the J.R. stands for. See that it’s just a nickname and that his real name is John J. Moehringer. Go to dexknows.com and find what you believe to be Moehringer’s home phone number. Copy and paste what you believe to be Moehringer’s home phone number into your Word document, thinking you’ll try to call him tomorrow.
7:43 p.m. Welcome wife as she returns from putting 3-year-old to bed. Accept glass of red wine from her and say, “Yes,” when she asks if you would like to watch an episode of “The Wire” on DVD.
11:56 p.m. Begin yawning as fourth consecutive episode of “The Wire” concludes. Say, “OK, I’ll be in there in a minute” when wife tells you she’s going to bed.
12:12 a.m. Grab Itty Bitty Book Light and lie in bed with head propped up on folded-in-half Tempurpedic pillow. Attach light to back spine of horse racing classic “Laughing in the Hills” by Bill Barich and pick up on page 43. Tell self that this is a valuable practice in that it keeps the writer, me, in the mindset of a sportswriter who maintains a literary voice while keeping casual readers engaged with action-packed depictions of athletic endeavors.
1:07 a.m. Turn off light and put book on side table.
1:11 a.m. Fall asleep while thinking about all the great writing I’ll get done tomorrow.
***
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Another fine piece. My wife and I just started Season 1 of the Wire last week, so that part really hit home.
Welcome to my world! I couldn’t stop laughing while I was reading about your day and comparing it to my day. The difference is my son is in high school and I’m the wife. It’s not easy being a stay-at-home mom or writer or both. Since this post is so old – I’m sure you are done with Chapter 6 by now :-)