Writer’s Shop Talk: Balancing Writing and Daily Chores

Late Morning/Midday, Wednesday, February 19, 2025, Miami, Florida

It’s a beautiful, sunny late winter day here in South Florida. As I sit down to write this, the morning is just about to give way to noon, with the temperature sitting at a comfy 82°F (28°C) under mostly sunny skies. This afternoon, it’s supposed to get a bit cloudier, hotter, and muggier, pushing the high up to 84°F (29°C) by 3 PM. We’re expecting a bit of a cool down in the coming days as some cold northern winds head our way, but nothing like the chilly weather back in my old (and temporarily cozy) home of Madison, New Hampshire, where it’s hazy and the mercury won’t rise above 30°F (-1°C).

“Writing is not life, but I think that sometimes it can be a way back to life.”― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Yesterday was a mixed bag for me. I planned to make progress on Reunion: Coda, aiming to dive into the third scene of Chapter 25. But then life happened, and I got sidetracked by laundry. Balancing writing with doing the laundry is no easy feat; it’s hard to get into the creative zone when you’re constantly thinking about whether the wash cycle is done or if it’s time to haul a basket of freshly dried clothes from the garage to the bedroom. Some folks might be great at multitasking, but for me, it’s a constant tug-of-war between creativity and chores, especially those that are less-than-thrilling.

Determined not to let the day go to waste, I decided to revisit Scene Two. As I looked over the last part of it, I realized it wasn’t quite hitting the mark. The idea was sound, but the execution left much to be desired. So, I put on my editor’s hat—figuratively speaking—and got to work. Drawing on my experience from editing for my college paper, I rewrote the part of Scene Three that was bugging me, adding some dialogue to make it pop rather than ending it with a dull block of exposition. It felt good to breathe new life into the scene and make it more engaging.

What will today be like? I want to do today what I couldn’t do yesterday during the afternoon writing shift: add a new scene to the chapter I’m crafting.

I’m not trying to rush to the end of Reunion: Coda; I’ve spent nearly two years on my first novel and worked too hard to get the manuscript where it is today to mess it up by writing a bad ending just to get it over with. But I do want to move the story forward and ever closer to its conclusion. Writing fresh material instead of editing what’s already there will help me reach that goal.

Endings are notoriously hard to write, no matter what the format or medium, and I certainly don’t want to deliver a novel that’s mostly good but has a lousy conclusion. Whether I do that this afternoon remains to be seen; I’ll see what happens when I return to my desk after my midday break.