Some of my writer friends have been struggling to write lately, and they keep asking me what I am doing. I tell them, ten to fifteen minutes a day is all I do, but in that time, I can write between 400 and 1000 words, depending on how the words are flowing, and lately they have been flowing.

Because a little bit can add up. I write all of my daily totals down in a diary and while 400 and 500 words might not seem like a lot, by the end of the week, I have maybe 2,500 to 3,000 words.

And most days I only get anywhere between ten minutes and half an hour to write, and that is in the morning, before I head to work. I write best in the morning and if I get some writing done, I always feel better about my day.

While I would love to be a fulltime writer, I currently need an income to pay the bills, so I work as a gardener. And I love it. I love it so much that during summer, I come home from work and work in my own garden. There’s something rather grounding about working with the soil. And I’m currently studying organic gardening through the Open Polytechnic, which means I am even more invested in what goes into my soil.

And sometimes gardening is all about little bits. Doing little jobs can add up. We live on a large section, so I can’t always weed it all in one day, so it’s to easier to break it down into little jobs. I have the front garden, the front house garden, the side garden and the shed garden, plus my vegetable garden. I enjoy breaking it up and having small jobs to do, rather than spending an entire weekend in the garden.

Have I ever combined my love of gardening with writing? Yes, I have. “Compromising Positions”, which was originally called “The Gardener”. I wanted to write about a woman who was a gardener, and this story, which I originally started many years ago, I finished earlier this year. I hope to have this published next year.

What things do you enjoy doing?

Hope you have a great week

Catherine