Switching Gears

I've been painstakingly trying to write about Sarah and the plight of the single mom but can't seem to find inspiration in Shanghai. Perhaps she is better thought of back home in the bay house that inspired her. Now I'm on to a new character. The name hasn't really found me yet. She is a woman dying of cancer. Lying in her hospital room reliving the 3 chapters of her life. The 2 men in her life are there and she can tell which one is in the room based on the cologne he is wearing. That scent sparks flashbacks to the times they shared together. It is in real rough draft but I'm feeling much more inspired by her right now than by Sarah.

This week's writing struggle

Well, I had good intentions to write. The beginning of the week had me running errands in Shanghai. This is a logistical nightmare and took a good deal of time. So when Wednesday rolled around I was chore and kid free. I put the kids on the bus, took a walk with my dog to clear my head and then prepared my work area. I lit a candle, put on some music that I thought was appropriate for the the particular part I wanted to write, made a cup of coffee and sat down to write. Just as I was getting deeply ingrossed, my fingers flying across the key board trying to keep up with the scene unfolding in my head, the phone rings. It is the school. My youngest daughter was sick and needed to be picked up. We ended up in the ER later that evening because of my daughter's wheezing. And then my husband came down with the crud and we had social commitments for the rest of the week. Now it is Saturday morning and I've not done more than a couple of pages this week. I wonder how writers stick to a deadline if they have family commitments?