Never Enough Time

I'm headed to Houston on Wednesday for the Story Master's Weekend with the legendary Christopher Vogler, Donald Maass, and James Scott Bell.

So I have a billion and two things to get done before I go. Boring stuff like laundry and packing, but also my prep for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month for those who don't know). And I have tattoos to do tomorrow. Five appointments, back to back, and whatever time left over I have to use to make sure everything at the shop is taken care of for my absence.

Cheese and effing rice, that's not enough time.

I never have enough time.

Managing a busy tattoo shop, balancing quality time with my awesome husband (it's our anniversary today, by the way), trying (and mostly failing) to see my family, and portioning away what little left over time I have for writing?

*sigh* I'm exhausted just typing that.

But there are so many writers in the world who juggle most of that and MORE. Some of them have children too. How do they do it? How can they possibly make all of it happen?

Mad skills.
And a whole lot of discipline.

Skills I got.
Discipline?
Meh, not so much.

I think participating in NaNoWriMo will really help. To save face among my fellow writer buddies and make my goal of 50,000 words by November 30th, I HAVE to stay disciplined. I have to put at least 1700 words on the page every day, which means writing through every available second.

And I will.
Why?

Eyes on the prize, my friends. Eyes on the prize.

Stay tuned this month to see if I'm a good juggler.

Of Course it Hurts

Yesterday, I had the unique privilege of tattooing my husband. I'm sure there are plenty of wives out there who would kill for love to have the opportunity to do this to their beloved spouses. For all the times the laundry didn't make it into the basket. For all the dishes left in the sink. For the countless hours said spouse has spent in front of the television instead of vacuuming. You could have all your revenge fantasies fulfilled in under two hours! Think of the possibilities...

Alas, no matter how often my darling infuriates me, I cannot bear to see him in pain. I actually have to disconnect myself from his suffering in order to perform the task at hand. Which, last night, was a huge tattoo on his side.

He grunted, he groaned, he used several curse words to address the situation. But, he survived. The tattoo looks great too.

This morning, I received a rejection on one of my submissions and it made me again see the similarities between tattooing and writing.

Both of those paths require dedication, hard work, and lots of cursing along the way. When I first started my tattoo apprenticeship, I would get so frustrated and infuriated that I wanted to throw in the towel on MANY occasions. I didn't. I kept my goals in sight, kept my chin up, and persevered.

And although it hurts sometimes to learn an art like tattooing, I refused to be denied. I intend on maintaining the same attitude where writing is concerned.

As for getting tattooed...

YES it hurts. There are needles creating about 1000 holes per minute on the surface of your skin, effectively removing the entire top layer which feels like a 2nd degree burn, but you are left with something amazing as a result.

And rejections?

I grunted, I groaned, and I used some very effective cursing to address the situation.

Yes, rejections hurt too. But in the end, you might end up with something amazing. 

The First Time

When you sit down to get your first tattoo, you might experience any or all of the following:

Hesitation
Nausea
Sweat
Disbelief
Fear
Paranoia
The all-consuming need to run away as fast and far as your shaking knees will allow, leaving a perfect cut-out of your form in the nearest wall, just like in cartoons.

That's almost what I was feeling when I started writing this, my first ever blog post.

But, after many, many tattoos, both on myself and on the thousands of first time customers I've dealt with, I know that the key to overcoming those feelings is to sit down, shut up, and DO IT. Besides, it's only ink.

Well, ink of a very permanent nature. Tattoos are forever. What you say on your skin tells something about you, good or bad, or both.

And a blog?
It's permanent too. Mostly. It will also say something about you, good or bad...or downright ugly.

*nagging butterflies begin to flitter in my gut*

What if I say something wrong? What if my ramblings present a less than flattering image? What if I pass out and pee myself? (Seriously, I had that happen to a customer once.)

*palms sweating*

Before I begin to panic, before I leap from my chair and bust through the wall, I think about what I say to every first time victim customer--

There are only two rules you need to remember:

1. Breathe.
2. Sit still.

So, I did (except for my fingers on the keyboard).

And it felt like someone was slicing me open with a razor wasn't so bad after all.