When Life Happens…WRITE on Sticky Notes by Guest Blogger Pepper Basham

I’ve been a friend of Seekerville for over two years now, and among the MANY things I’ve learned, there is this one BIG truth:

EVERYONE has a different approach to writing.

Some people have a set schedule.

Some have a set word count

Some wake up at the wink of dawn.

Some write into the night.

Then there are people like me.

I’m not exactly wired like most.

(Oh dear, I can hear Ruthy laughing from here. Takes one to know one, Ruthy)

What I mean by that statement, besides the obvious, is that my brain is in constant forward motion…at high speeds. Blame it on being a mom of five. Or being raised in the middle of a herd of big-time talkers. Or maybe it’s my proclivity toward ADHD but….

I thrive on activity (this does not mean I’m either fit or thin, btw).

I work better in a borderline state of hysteria ;-)

It’s a good thing too, because there aren’t too many episodes of slow motion in my house or at work. (God knew, of course) Long spans of free writing time are as elusive as…the other match to a child’s white sock on a school morning with five minutes left before rushing out the door. (Anyone ELSE know that feeling?)

Or as elusive as a pair of pantyhose that DO NOT have a run the size of the Mississippi river in them? (I do NOT expect Vince or Walt to understand this dilemma – and I really don’t want to know if they do ;-)

That’s the writing life for me.

So – how do I write a novel in the midst of this pandemonium?

Let’s look at a Pepper-equation (be afraid, you’re entering MY mind. Fasten your seatbelts, grab some chocolate, and think in ‘pages’.)

That’s right! Being a writer, I measure time in terms of pages.

Some people have 5 subject-notebook times (about 200 pages). This is a person who writes full-time. Long spans of hours and days, where writing is a central focus and ½ a novel or an entire novel emerges after a few weeks of writing.

Weeks of writing….sigh

I dream about those moments. But dreaming is as far as it getsJ

Others have 3 subject notebook times (about 150 pages). This is someone who may have regular 3-5 hours of writing time on a consistent basis (Ruthy, is this you?), or a jag of focused weeks/months of only writing (I think Cheryl works kind of like this, and maybe Tina)

Then there are little 1 subject notebook times (about 80 pages) which make up an hour or two here and there each day. Lunch break for some of us. The wee small hours of the morning for others.

Finally, there are those little snippets of time which really can’t fit on a page – a few minutes crammed in between a chore or in carline, or several seconds at a stoplight. A nook-moment while the chicken simmers on the stove or you watch the kids play on the playground at the park.

Those are called sticky-note moments.

My life is made up of sticky-notes. Most days, that’s all I get.

To help you visualize this mental chaos, here’s an idea of what one of my Saturday mornings looks like (I work Monday-Friday as a university instructor, so those days are a bit different. If an actual lunch break happens, I might try to write- otherwise, it’s back to the sticky notes).

Let me give you an example:

Load of laundry, wash off breakfast dishes, type a few paragraphs… back to the dishes, check on kiddos, switched clothes from washer to dryer, type another paragraph or two. Help kids straighten up rooms. Fold laundry. Type another paragraph.

I wrote 500 words over a period of 4 hours this past Saturday with this method, which may not sound like much – but it matters.

Why? How on earth do sticky notes make up a novel?

Simple addition, my dear Watson.

Scattered moments strung together make a story.

For those of you who feel discouraged about ‘life’ crowding out your writing time, this is especially for you!

I KNOW what it feels like – usually on a daily basis.

But here’s a hint:

There are little opportunities all around us – God-given sticky note moments every day.

Where, you might ask?

Here’s a glimpse where I find them:

- On my lunch break (when I don’t have a lunch meeting or I’m not counseling a client (or family member)

- Five minutes before leaving my car to go into work

- In car pool line (that might even total 10 minutes or more)

- Notepad in the kitchen for those inspired moments while cooking (you can usually guess what I was cooking from the stains on the paper ;-)

- Voice recorder for inspired moments while driving

- A 13, 11, or 9 year old who will take dictation when their mother is driving them to or from school in the mornings J

- A treadmill desk to type a few ‘breathless’ notes

- Five minutes between chores or appointments

- A fabulous group of encouragers – who keep me going when I’ve fizzled to a stop

Even if you do not have writing induced ADHD like me, the lesson is this:

‘seize the moment’

‘snatch the opportunity’

Unless I’m engaged in active evaluation, teaching, counseling, or family-life, I stay in a constant state of daydreaming. It gears my brain for writing whenever there is a moment to catch J

Do I get bummed when sticky note moments happen instead of a 3-subject notebook moment? Oh dear, yes! But…

As He is ever-faithful to do, God is teaching me to trust him with ALL of my moments – big or small.

Life happens and even those moments come in short supply. Some of the Seekers and Writers’ Alley Gals have been privy to my insecurities, whining, and “I’m giving up’ tirades. But if I truly believe God has called me into this amazing writing world, while still having me live in the one I do, then there is a method to his ‘apparent’ madness in my life. J

Here’s the main things God’s taught me through this process:

1. Perseverance

Yeah, a fancy word for stick-to-itness (perfect for the sticky note mentality, don’t you think?)

2. Patience

Which really just means keeping life in the right perspective.

(Mind you, I’ve not mastered either one of these beautiful qualities, but I’m a work-in-progress)

Sticky Note Moments Tips For Your Sanity:

1. Make the most of them

2. Keep an attitude of forward motion – even if that means sssslllllloooooowwww motion.

3. Trust that God knows what He’s doing in your life (His timing, His calling, our perseverance)

4. To everything there is a season (Ruthy likes to remind us of that verse from Ecclesiastes). Right now the season of my life is sticky notes. Life is happening all around me, from kids to church to work to a mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s, to parents grieving the loss of their mothers within six months of each other. Lots of stuff. What do all these moments do?

5. Refine – we are being refined for a greater purpose. Not just so we’ll improve as writers, but most importantly so our souls will glorify the Lord. There is a phrase from one of my songs of which I love to remind myself:

“May Your glory fill my common days, with uncommon mercy and grace

So that all the souls who meet with me get a glimpse of Your beautiful face.”

The hallmark of who we are comes down to the attitude of our hearts and ‘attitude’ is not measured so much in time, as it is in action. We all are given the same amount of ‘time’. 24 hours a day. It’s the action we take (combined with the attitudes of our hearts) that make that ‘time’ matter.

Whether we have notebook moments or sticky note moments, it all comes back to our hearts – as everything in life always does.

God made this moment.

Just as it is.

Just where you are.

Just where I am.

I can take it and squeeze 20 words out of it, or allow it to slip away.

I can look at my writing nooks and crannies as meager food for the writer’s craving – or as an opportunity for creativity.

We’re all on a journey – in life, in love, in writing - and God is the author. That’s our greatest hope!

Because we’re not the authors, we’re not struggling in our own strength to write an autobiography. God’s got a story planned, one that ends with an amazing finish, and he’ll use all of our moments big or small. to get us there.

About Pepper: Pepper D. Basham is a native of the Blue Ridge Mountains, mom of five, pastor’s wife, and university instructor. When she’s not sleeping, she’s creating fictional worlds where good defeats evil, laughter reigns, and adventure thrives. She won the Award of Excellence at BRMCWC in 2009, the inspirational category of the TARA in 2010, and is a double-finalist in the Genesis for 2011.

Here is her current motto: “Three things are necessary, four are required: God’s grace, a sense of humor, children’s hugs, and good chocolate. Everything else is secondary.”

She writes stories (in various genres) that are peppered with grace and a dash of humor.

You can learn more about Pepper from her personal blog, Words Seasoned With Salt or at her group writing blog, The Writers Alley.

Today in Seekerville we're giving away a pack of Sticky Notes, a surprise Seeker book, and a Five Page Critique to one commenter to celebrate Pepper's post and her double Genesis final!! Winner announced in the Weekend Edition.