Am I Crazy?

Lots of people I know come home from their day jobs, have supper, help the kids with the homework, then kick back and watch a couple favorite t.v. shows, read a book, or indulge in a good board game.

Then there's me.

I work the day job, go home, have supper, fire up the laptop, help the kiddies with the homework, write a little, throw in a load of laundry, go back and write some more, get the kids ready for bed, and sneak in a few extra minutes of writing. After all, I only have four hours to work with from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. And while four hours might crawl at work, they fly by in the evenings.

Last night, sitting on the couch with my laptop, I thought, "Am I crazy?" I don't come home and relax in front of the t.v. or crack open a book or sit in my chair and do some knitting. And you know what? I sort of envy the people that get to do that. I work an eight-hour job, come home and do all the normal routines (kids, supper, housework) and then get right back to work with my writing.

I know I'm not alone. A lot of writers do this - work the day job, come home and take care of the family, and squeeze in some writing time, either in the morning before work or after the kids are in bed.

There are times, though, that I wish I could come home and just relax - do all the normal routines, but then know that I have a few hours to kick back and read a book, play a game, watch a t.v. show, etc. But the writing is always there, hovering at the back of my mind. You should be writing. You want to be writing. Go write!

So I write. And hope that one day, this crazy routine will stop and the day job will be my novel writing so that I can have those few hours in the evening to spend with my family without worrying about the writing. Idealistic? Probably. I'm sure there will be many times when I'm on deadline that I have to ignore the evening activities and plant myself in front of the computer.

So to answer the question, yes, I am crazy. But I'm a writer. For me, the two go hand in hand.