Making A Literary Life Friday: Weekends

Even this blog runs Monday through Friday, as though the weekends are somehow not part of a literary life. Certainly, it's harder on weekends, with the burst of "real life" that pushes into every corner of our days: friends, family, yards, houses. Do you write on weekends and if so, how much, or what else do you do on those two days (especially as they do get nicer and nicer)?

Lisa Marnell
Lisa is winging her way east to Grub Street's Muse and the Marketplace, attending a conference and getting to see a certain threesome of old friends (well, more than us, but we're so excited!).

What could be better than listening to writers, publisher and editors share their insights and experiences?

Amy MacKinnon
The parallels between writing and motherhood are many. In either case, there is no down time, we are always at the mercy of our children's and our characters' demands and needs, we always stand ready to listen and nurture, we are always with them and they with us.

But my weekends are more for my children than my writing -- except this one. This weekend I'll have the opportunity to meet authors whose work staggers me. I'll see my beloved editor and have a lots of down time with my writers' group friends. I'll phone home often and expect to check in with my characters too. I need the reassurance just as much as they do.

Hannah Roveto
I write now and then on weekends, but I find that weekends are better dedicated to reading. At the moment, I have Scott Heim's We Disappear, as well as Julia Glass' The Whole World Over. Margot Livesey is on tour promoting The House on Fortune Street, which I can't wait to pick up. Not only is she one of my favorite authors, coincidentally she was one of my favorite Muse speakers, as well. Check out her schedule at http://www.margotlivesey.com/

Lynne Griffin
I do write on weekends. On Saturdays, I write first thing in the morning--the same as my Monday through Friday routine. On Sundays, I read, take notes or edit the previous weeks pages. Yes, I'm addicted to writing. My feeling is that even if I don't actually get words on the page, I should touch my work-in-progress in some way every day. Sure, I take days off, but not regularly. I need to stay in the story and to do that I must connect with it daily. I've not gone as far as to sleep with my manuscript as Joan Didion does. But who knows? It certainly works for her. This weekend I won't write, because I'll be at the Muse conference, but you can bet I will be feeding my imagination in oh so many ways. I can't wait.