By Victoria Allman
Set a daily word count
and make sure you hit it every day.
Those are the words that
have been drilled into every writer’s head at every conference, on the page of
every book on craft, and in every article about how to succeed as an author.
But, what if you physically can’t sit at the computer each
day?
Life is busy.
For me, my job as chef
on a yacht keeps me on my feet for sixteen hours a day. I’m up at five to start
the days baking and fly around the galley all day making breakfast, lunch, hors
d’oeuvres, and dinner for our crew and guests. Often, it isn’t until ten or
eleven at night when the last plate of Tahitian vanilla panna cotta with
tropical fruit compote is cleared. That leaves precious few hours to sit and
write.
Plus, my books are about life on board the yacht, the places we travel,
and the local recipes I learn. In my limited down time, I explore the ports and
markets gathering stories, meeting the weather-beaten fishermen who sell me a
tangle of octopus tentacles, and experiencing the heat that explodes my mouth
as I bite into the habenero chile just picked from an island farm. Without
spending my time strolling through ancient cobble-stoned cities I’d have
nothing to write about.
Luckily, my time in the
galley chopping vegetables and kneading bread gives me time to think. Usually,
my hands are covered in flour, so I can’t transfer my thoughts to the computer,
but I always have a pad of Post-its sitting next to my cutting board.
Throughout the day, as my mind wanders, I jot down ideas for stories,
descriptive sentences of the strawberry grouper ceviche I’m making, and my
thoughts on the color of sunlight at dusk off the island of Santorini.
Over the course of a
week, I collect hundreds of these little yellow scraps of paper. On Sunday, my
day off, I wake early and spend the morning transcribing the olive oil
splattered notes. The words flow effortlessly and fast as they have been
simmering in my brain all week. My word count boils over and quickly I find
myself hitting what would have been the accumulated word count for the week. By
early afternoon, I can escape the boat and go explore, adding new scribbles to
my pile of scrap paper for next week.
It’s not a method of
success I’ve seen promoted, but it works for me. So, when life becomes
overwhelming and you find yourself strapped for time in your writing nook, grab
a pad of Post-its and go explore life.
_____________________________________________________________________
Victoria Allman has been
following her stomach around the globe for fourteen years as a yacht
chef. She writes about her floating culinary odyssey through Europe,
the Caribbean, Nepal, Vietnam, Africa and the South Pacific in her first book, SeaFare: A Chef’s Journey Across the Ocean.SEAsoned: A Chef’s Journey with Her Captain, Victoria’s second book, is the hilarious
look at a yacht chef’s first year working for her husband while they cruise
from the Bahamas to Italy, France, Greece and Spain; trying to stay afloat. Her
essays on travel and food have appeared in Dockwalk Magazine, Marina Life
Magazine, and OnDeck Skipper. You can read more of her food-driven escapades
through her website, www.victoriaallman.com www.victoriaallman.com/blog https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaAllmanAuthor
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