by Kay Sisk
One of the benefits of working from home is the ease of wardrobe. I’ve heard this from friends, sufficiently tenured in their jobs, who are able to man the help desk from their home computer. Perhaps they go to the mother ship once a week, but the rest of the
time it’s pjs and slippers.
And so I’d heard that about being a writer, have even read about the fashionista-challenged on this blog. At the 2004 Dallas RWA convention, I noted with more than a hint of exasperation, that Mary Kay was having a convention at the same hotel we were. If
ever two groups of women could have benefited from an exchange of insider information, it would have been the romance writers and the cosmetics crowd. I didn’t hear of this happening on a grand scale, although perhaps a truce was born in isolated incidences. It would have been a considerable truce, too, since we seemed to be stepping on each other from the minute we valet-parked. If they were talking about us the way we were talking about them… Let’s just say it
wouldn’t speak well for either of us.
I’m as couture ignorant as the next writer. My closet consists of odds and ends from the last decade that I manage to pull together with enough black. I love costume jewelry and rarely disown any of it. At some point it will pass into vintage and then won’t I be glad I saved it. I wear my shoes until the heels are gone and wish I’d bought two pairs at the time. Had I but known I’d love this particular pair so much…
But all that aside, I don’t write in my pajamas. If I’m sitting at the computer undressed, so to speak, then it’s a temporary sit. I still need to bathe, dress for the day. I can/should quit at
any time. If I’m dressed, whether or not it’s presentable for the bank or grocery, then I’m ready to concentrate on the business at hand, the business of writing my book. I do not quit graciously for I am at work.
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I wrote most of Coiled Revenge in my pajamas. The book I just finished was written mostly in my pajamas. I think I do 90% of my work in my pajamas. Not because I don’t like to shower, but because I wake up at 4:30, sometimes 3:30, in the morning to work since I’m with the kids all day and I can only get a few minutes of uninterrupted time with my manuscript after they get up. I also write at night after everyone’s asleep and I do that writing in my pj’s. Right now I’m in my PJ’s because I woke up at 5:30 to work on Sunday to get in an hour before church. I’m only on the internet this morning because my virus scanner is running and it and Word don’t work well together. Virus scanner is finished, time for work.
I have to get dressed and go somewhere to write — whether the coffee shop, bookstore, or library. There are too many distractions if I sit at home — from favors asked or chores assigned by folks who see me as “sitting around not doing anything” to the TV (“Oooo! A ‘Prisoner’ marathon!”) to the overstuffed couch in the living room. If I don’t get dressed and treat writing like a job I’m going to, I don’t get anything written at all.
I’m with you, Kevin. I have to get out of the house (staying at home all day would make me insane) and sit down and write. First, seeing people is a good thing, or else you get out of practice interacting with others (I’m not joking!). And, if you’re at home, NO ONE understands why you just can’t take a second to do this, or that, or …
Besides, I wouldn’t be able to keep myself off the internet.
I don’t own any PJs, so it’s impossible for me to write in ‘em.
I’m a total grump before taking a shower so writing in my pj’s is out. Unless I’m writing a specifically nasty fight scene.
Kay, thanks for this post. I can note write in my pj’s or grubbies. I play on the internet or I spend countless hours at Solitaire. I have to feel like I’m ’set’ to write. Cup of tea, music on, and dressed to write.
I get a lot of work done with my laptop, sitting on the bed. Or couch. Feet up, being comfy. It makes writing feel cozy and comfortable, not like a big deal. I prefer sweats or jeans to PJs, though.
Yoga pants rule.
I always shower and change into something else before I start writing. Even if I slept in sweat pants and am only changing into another pair, it signals to me that it’s time to get to work.
I write after I go for a long walk, so I’m already dressed when I sit down at the computer, though my walking clothes are just as disreputable as my nightclothes. I get tons of ideas while walking.
I’m a Flybaby (http://flylady.net), I always dress before I come downstairs. I function better at everything if I feel like I’m dressed and put together for the day. And, well, I want to be ready just in case Steven Spielberg calls and wants to do lunch.