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"Not Now, Sweetie, Daddy's Worldbuilding"

Tim Pratt, author of one of the best damn sf short stories I've ever read (and if you haven't read it yet why haven't you?), has an essay up on Clarkesworld about juggling baby duties and writing:
With a kid, long chunks of time to write is like perpetual motion or zero point energy. You just can't get it, at least, not without putting more energy into the system than you get out. I was seriously contemplating hiring a babysitter for a few hours just so I could write — but with the kind of money fiction writing pays, that quickly becomes a losing proposition, economically speaking. So... I adjusted. Turns out, that's what being a parent requires. Yes, I'm a natural binge writer. Yes, my preferred technique is to slip into that wonderful zen state of flow for several hours and emerge with twenty or thirty pages of prose. But you know what? Too bad.
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  1. Anonymous2/4/08 5:03 pm

    Thanks for pointing out such a great sci-fi short story! See ya this weekend at PWTC!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ted Mahsun2/4/08 5:24 pm

    No probs!

    Actually, I think I'll be at KLIBF throughout the whole event. So anybody else who wants to meet me can do so! It's easy to spot me! I'll be the Chinese-lookin' guy who looks bored out of his mind! :D

    Or you could look for me at the Suarasuara booth... wherever that is! Look for details later.

    ReplyDelete

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