I have officially been on summer vacation for eleven days, but it doesn’t feel like it. Nearly every day has been busy with something, distracting me from my writing. I think I have written three pages since my last day of work on June 13, and that’s not a very good average. I could blame my lack of writing on all of the daily activities that have interrupted (or filled, if you’re an optimist) my free time, but the truth is I haven’t been motivated.
Oh, I’ve had many ideas knocking around in my head, begging to be written down. The chapter I’ve been working on for two weeks, a party from Derek’s perspective, accosts me every morning as I drink my coffee. I hear the words whispering to me each moment my mind isn’t occupied with couponing, canning, grocery lists, daily chores, daughters’ demands, sewing projects, marketing, platform building, tweeting, facebooking (is that a verb?), and , well, you fill in the _____.
I’ve read and heard so many times that I have to make time to write, schedule an hour or two a day to get something down, and that’s all well and good, if I didn’t find five hundred other things to distract me (such as writing this post, but hey, it’s writing).
So I guess what I have to do is to decide, do I want to write this book or not? Is it worth my time, the time I take away from every other aspect of my life, to get this story out of me? And if it is worth it, how do I make it a priority? I can say I am the type of writer who has to wait for her muse, or when I’m motivated, or inspired, or driven…you get the excuse idea, when in reality, I just need to force myself to sit down and do it.
And as if writing this down has actually given rise to inspiration, I ask that any of you who know me and want to help me succeed, hold me accountable. Ask me how my book’s coming along, did I figure out that plot twist, or how Tara’s going to handle Hannah’s news. Again, you get the idea.
Now, I really am off to finish that chapter. Really.
I read your Make Believe…want more.
I think I’m going to turn it into a short story. I have too many novel ideas in the works to give it the attention it needs to become anything longer that three to five pages.
Go get ’em Tracie. Just remember, Thursday is coming!
Thanks for the push, Cheri. I actually finished Derek’s party chapter yesterday (this post was scheduled to be released today) AND have revised chapter 11. And believe it or not, I’ve already gotten my fingers accustomed to the one space rule between sentences!
:-))