Today was supposed to be a free day for me to crack on with editing, but I have caught that commuter bug that likes to hang out on the Northern line, and have spent most of today sneezing sadly from the sofa.
How annoying! I was fine to do real life work yesterday of course, and no doubt will be fit for real life work tomorrow, but today… Today has been for feeling dizzy, tired and a bit flu-y. Oh well, I might perk up enough to do some editing later this evening, if lemsip works its magic. Which reminds me, does anyone remember those vaguely threatening lemsip adverts that hinted if you dared take a sick day at home with a cold, some sod in the office would steal your job? Way to go lemsip – paranoia adds a new element when feeling off-colour.
Did you know that poets Philip Larkin and T S Eliot held full time jobs all their lives? Okay, Larkin may have been a librarian, so a bit closer to books, but T S Eliot was a banker – as far away from Macavity the Mystery Cat as you can possibly be. How do people stay creative in their spare time and yet earn enough to survive? For me it is like a seesaw – I do one, and then the other – I find it impossible to strike a balance while doing both. It seems the trick is to get amazingly organised with life, and just to keep plugging away an hour here and an hour there when you can spare them. Even if the next time you look at that hour’s creativity you score a line through it and start again, at least it has provoked some sort of spark, much more than flumping on the sofa and staring at television ever will. It's just finding the energy - and if you put children into the equation then all I can assume is that person is indeed very talented!
Although not knocking full time work at the moment at all - the thought of actually pumping some money into my totally deflated, almost-on-its-knees, bank account is very, very appealing. The problem is I submit invoices, being a contractor type person, and then I have to wait for things to be processed... and time is ticking for over-due bills! Eek.
My piece of advice for anyone who decided to do as I did, which was give up work and write a novel with no back up, would be that when you think you have saved enough to start, save an extra three months worth of money! Or possibly get a part time job in the latter stages... definitely do not do as I did and go for broke, as broke you'll be! And even worse, I noticed a hole in my only pair of smart work shoes... which leads us nicely into today's youtube offering... Come on invoices!
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