« Care and Feeding, Part II | Main | Care and Feeding, Part IV, by Mr. Tall »
December 13, 2006
Care and Feeding, Part III
By George, the Highly Effective Husband of Whitney
I’m a great starter of things, but not so great on the follow-through. In our first house, I had at one point something like nine unfinished renovation projects going. When this caused Whitney to develop a twitch in her left eyebrow area, I did the sensible thing and buckled down and let Whitney hire someone to finish the work.
There’s a story Whitney likes to tell about me which, she says, speaks volumes about this aspect of my personality. I had decided one day to become a Highly Effective Person, and so went out and bought the famous book on the subject, brought it home, read it with great intensity and enthusiasm. A couple of hours later, I closed the book with a satisfied thump.
“So, you’ve figured it all out?” she asks.
“I have,” I say. “Wanna hear?”
“Sure!”
So I told her: “See, there are these three habits you have to develop …” And I ran down the list. (They’re a little touchy-feely, I see that now, but at the time, it was pretty helpful.)
“What happened to the other four habits?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“It says right here: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Seven. You've only mentioned three.”
“Oh,” I say, “the first three are the only ones that count. The other four are crap.”
She laughs a lot when she tells this little anecdote.
What a lot of people don’t get when they talk to Whitney about her job as a writer is that she’s about as far away from me on the Unfinished Project-Starting Spectrum as you can get. Writing takes a rare amount of determination, which she not only has, but has in spades. She’s a hard core Type A personality wrapped in a groovy Type B shell.
At the moment, she’s in the phase of the life-cycle of book-writing that I call The Badlands. One book has been sent off to her editor, but it will soon come back from the publishing house for edits. But another book has already been started. She will have to stop working on the current project in order to go back to working on the old project. Gears will have to be shifted. Not one but two unfinished books will be on her desk. This is bad.
So, she’s distressed.
“Why don’t you try yoga?” I offer. “You’ve always talked about wanting to give it a try, and there’s a little studio over by the park just a mile from here.”
“Good idea,” she says, and goes online to find the phone number. It turns out they have a website, too, complete with a class schedule.
“Oh, this will never work,” she says, exasperated.
“Why?” I ask.
“Look how long the classes are. They’re all an hour and a half long!”
“So?”
“That’s an awfully long time to just sit around, you know, stretching and stuff,” she says. “Don’t they have anything shorter?”
“I see. You want your meditative, deep-breathing, quiet moment of the soul to be more …”
“Efficient, yes. Is that too much to ask?”
That’s one of the hidden keys to the care and feeding of writers, at least the one in my house. She may do her job in solitude, wearing sweatpants, and occasionally with a glass of wine within reach, but in her own quiet way, she’s as determined and unwavering as any fast-talking CEO with a Blackberry in one hand and a cell phone in the other.
Posted by Whitney at 9:00 AM | Comments (9)
Comments
George, you highly effective sweetheart! You so get it!
Scooter (LC Eileen)
P.S. Perhaps a yoga DVD for one of her Christmas presents? I love the ones with Rodney Yee . . .
Posted by: Eileen ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.literarychicks.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 13, 2006 10:35 AM
Whitney, you have been on my "A" list since I first read Pushing 30 three years ago... Now your husband is too.
That was a lovely tribute.
You guys rock!
Posted by: Lauren at December 13, 2006 10:36 AM
First, Merry Christmas to you, Whit, and Sam. Last and on my family\'s behalf, it is an honor to have been a part of the N.O. experience with you and Whit. Although as limited as it was, it still remains an honor. When are you going to get snapshot back together?
Posted by: Brian at December 13, 2006 3:15 PM
George,
You are a sweetie!
I love the image of Whitney sitting in front of her computer in sweatpants, with a serious look on her face and a glass of wine in her hand. It sounds like me on many nights. Thankfully, like your Whitney, I've been blessed with someone that may not totally understand the insanity that is me in he middle of a story, but still seems to "get it". In talking to other writer friends, I realize how truly blessed I am to have him. It sounds like Whitney is just as blessed, and that makes me very, very happy! (because, as long as she's happy, she'll keep writing those wonderful books of hers, of course! You didn't think I was happy for her just because, did you?) :)
Posted by: dee at December 13, 2006 4:17 PM
Handsome AND articulate! I tell you, these Literary Chicks have got some AWESOME men in their lives!
George, that is a great story (seven habits--*snort*!) and it sounds as if you and Whitney are a great match. Yoga takes too long--*chuckle*! Maybe a book on yoga would be more her speed--then she can just do the stretches that take the least amount of time.... *grin* Maybe it's something you can both work on together, sort of like those 7 habits? *ducks and runs*
Posted by: Sheri at December 13, 2006 6:32 PM
An hour and a freaking half! Who has that sort of time to fritter away meditating?
Posted by: Whitney at December 14, 2006 8:56 AM
George, you may or may not have heard this already from Whitney, but I totally heart you.
Posted by: Julie at December 14, 2006 1:20 PM
What a very nice tribute George!
And Whintey, you can always do what I did the first time I went to yoga....I had about three glasses of wine with a girlfriend. We *both* went and then had to leave when we couldn't stop laughing at the names of the positions: downward facing dog. BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Posted by: Robyn at December 15, 2006 5:10 PM
Sheri said: Handsome AND articulate! I tell you, these Literary Chicks have got some AWESOME men in their lives!
I agree! George, I think you and Oh Patient One have a big thing in common - he never reads beyond page 1 of the instruction manuals :-)
And Whitney? I totally recommend yoga. As Robyn said, so full of entertaining poses...although my fave is Mermaid.
Posted by: Michelle C at December 16, 2006 4:09 PM
