“Where do you get the time to write” my friend asked me one day.
I don’t really get the time. I make the time. I have to. Scratch that. I want to. We all have 24 hours in a day. But in life, you’ll often feel like someone else is ahead of you because they just seem to be doing a lot of extra ordinary things. Things you’ve always wanted to do. Things that, for you, will require time, energy and money you currently don’t have.
Phil Karanja on his interview on CTA gave a great example how in his field, there are actors who have that natural talent, then there are others who have to study until they get to the same level that naturally comes to someone else. Same with money unfortnately. There are those who have it, and those who have to work hard for it. It almost seems unfair that we all have the exact same hours in a day when other people have a head start.
But I digress. For me, I’m a catcher upper. I need to study and study. So what time do I write? I write when I’m in the matatu, when something catches my eye and I have to find the words to turn a simple moment into drama. I write when I’m buying that smocha from that vendor across the road until I can describe his appearance as if I need to describe it to the police. I write when I’m eating, when I’m walking, and admittedly sometimes, when I’m talking to someone.
And when the words become too heavy for my head, I sit down and physically write, during my lunch break, in the matatu on my phone notes app, when I get home after I freshen up, and sometimes before I freshen up. I type when I’m eating, and sometimes, I have paused what I’m watching to write. Not everything I write is gold, but I write it nonetheless. Because I don’t want to block the tap when I have a flow of ideas.
And I do all this so I can get to that level that comes so naturally to someone else, who will sit and write a blockbuster in days when it takes me months. Someone who will map out a three or five novel series when I’m still struggling through my first chapter. It’s hard and heartbreaking sometimes and self-doubt creeps in when I least expect it. But I do it nonetheless, because it makes me feel alive. Actually, it makes me feel a lot of things. Everything all at once. It’s probably bad for my health lol.
I digress *again
I probably would have been able to explain this using five sentences or less. But where’s the fun in that.
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