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OMG…Some Days…..

07 Jul

The graphic above is very representative of my day today so far. There are times when, as a writer, I am nowhere near reaching my daily goals let alone any other long term goal I have set for myself. Writing, at times, can be very frustrating.

I consider myself a creative person and a hard worker but, let’s be honest, there are more day than not when motivation is an elusive beast. Summer is a tough time to write because the sun is out and there are so many things tugging at your shirt sleeve. If you have kids, and I do, they want your attention. Many of your friends and family are taking summer vacations and it is easy to justify that, well, hey, you work from home so why not tag along. Then there is that overwhelmed feeling that can sometimes creep in because for some strange reason every writer thinks that they can get more done during the summer time. (I’m a winter writer by the way) Whatever your distraction it is easy to lose sight of what it is we do in the first place….write.

So here is what I did this morning to ensure that the summer months don’t come and go without me having truly accomplished anything at all…I made a list. I’m not, by nature, an OCD sufferer but I do tend to need some concrete direction and a list is often the only way to motivate myself. I created my summer to do list today so that I can hold myself accountable to the things that need to get done. Here is one important point when making that list however….start with the writing stuff. It is easy to start with “the dishes”, “the grocery store”, “feeding the dog”, (okay maybe you should go ahead and feed the dog) but try setting the household chores aside until the writing chores are done.Too often life gets in the way of our craft and the only person who can keep that from happening is you. As long as you get those household chores done before the spouse gets home it’s all good…right?

So sit down and make yourself a summer list for your writing. Promise yourself on the list that you will get “X” number of words on paper every day before you do anything else. Your to do list is your commitment that this summer will not fly by with you standing there in the Fall wondering what the hell you did all summer long.

 

 

© The Writer’s Advice, 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

 

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