This week I confessed to a writer friend who lives in Mexico that I’ve been working on my current novel in five- and ten-minute increments. I’m no stranger to writing on the go. I always carry something to write with and something to write on–tiny notebooks, recipe cards, old receipts and gum wrappers. I’ve been known to call my home phone and leave myself “writerly” messages: a few lines of dialogue, some character notes, the sketchy highlights of a pivotal scene. I often suggest to clients who are over-scheduled and/or phobic about facing the blank page, that they send me snippets–a few lines, a short list, a paragraph, a few hundred words. Usually, they oblige, and the paragraphs begin to add up to pages. Still, I realized I wasn’t taking my own advice. I was feeling cranky about the fact I was working “short”. My friend, who is wise, said, Get over it. I did–and it occurred to me that, right now, working in snippets is exactly right for me, my process, and the novel. The longer stretches will come later. So, if you, like me, find yourself working in snippets, stop feeling guilty. It’s amazing what you can accomplish as a writer in five minutes…and five minutes…and five minutes…
