The incredible excuse machine

I've come to the conclusion that lots of budding writers are very good at making excuses, and I'm no exception.

Maybe it's a function of guilt or maybe it's some misguided attempt to justify why words didn't get done during a particular day...or week...or month.

C'mon, folks. Let's have a little straightforward honesty here. I'll kick it off:

I didn't write anything today because: I didn't feel like writing.

There. I feel so much cleaner somehow.

All humor aside, unless you've somehow managed to buck the trend and become a full-time writer, odds are that you're squishing your writing time into the cracks that real life leaves behind. In my case, I have a full time job that I'm bloody well not going to give up to pursue a writing career until and unless my income from writing makes my normal salary seem silly. (Thank you Terry Pratchett for that little measuring post.) I have a wife, three kids, a cat, a dog, a house that needs repair, and two cars that are just this side of the wrecking yard. No way am I going to suddenly lark off and trust to the generosity and support of the American publishing industry. (Guffaw)

So, for me, writing is a creative outlet that has the bonus of being a self-worth reinforcer when people say nice things to me about it and publishers write me checks. Nice things are never in big enough supply and checks, no matter how modest, are never to be sneezed at.

Now, that all has to be balanced a bit since I actually have a story that got ::gasp:: accepted. Yes, yes. I am going to be officially published now. Zette Gifford not only said nice things about a story I wrote, but she also snagged it for one of her Illuminated Manuscripts fantasy anthologies due out from Dragon Tooth Fantasy, a Double Dragon E-Book imprint.

Okay, now it's serious.

Yeah, sometimes I won't feel like writing and I still have a real life with some pretty friggin hefty real bills, but play time, in a sense, is over. If I want to be published, if I want to be considered "pro", then I have to start exercising some focus and committment. And not feeling like writing becomes a luxury that doesn't fit anymore.

Oddly enough, feeling like writing is, for me, a function of being well rested and in decent condition. If I'm tired and draggy, then writing is an unassailable mountain of effort (along with just about everything else in life, ick.) If I get enough sleep, walk regularly, do some life-balance things with the kids and wife, then writing is a whole lot easier.

Anyway, enough rambling. I need to knuckle down and write. ;)

Darwin