We have been at this for a while now. Weeks have turned into months. Sometimes I remind you of the things we need to do to keep us going. To keep us writing. It isn't easy, is it? Well again if it was easy everyone would do it.
But if in all this time you have not gotten much at all done I will ask: Are you sure you really want this? Go ahead and answer honestly. No one knows your answer but you. Writing is hard. It takes hours and hours and weeks and months. If this isn't a big dream of yours then why are you going to so much effort to finish the book? Why not do something else because you have to commit to this or let it go. I am strongly wording things here. I certainly don't want to run you off of this blog but your time is valuable. Your goal to write is valuable to you? But have you made it a priority? So many people who are not writers ask me how I have the time to write when I have a full-time job, a husband, 2 daughters, 2 pets, and a house to maintain. I am by far not perfect at it but my only answer has ever been: You make your dreams a priority. I changed things so that I could write and I did it with purpose. And there were times my family and friends questioned my motives. But I didn't care. I had wanted to write when I was young but nursing school killed that dream. Seriously. There is no life during nursing school or long after. When I first got out of nursing school I wouldn't even read a book for around two years. Later came more school for my BSN and more for a Masters. Then I got married and then was a mother. That dream was pushed to the wayside once more. But when my girls were big enough to handle their own baths and didn't need me as much I pulled out my laptop. I think this was about 2011. I did not stop pushing for the dream. By 2014 I got a contract and 2015 my first story was released. Someone in my writing group was heard to say about me "I have never seen anyone so determined to come in and say I am gonna do this and dive in head first." That is sort of how I did it. I won't say it came easy. I wrote even when my husband fussed about the dishes in the sink. I wrote when my mother and other family thought I was wasting time and neglecting my children. I think it was my father who asked why I hadn't done this when I was single and had time. My answer was I was always in school. Now they are all the proudest and hardly remember those not so fun days of writing... when it wasn't understood this is what I do now. I am a writer but they now know I am an author for sure. I headed up early in setting my time to Write. I negotiated where I could for writing time. I carried laptop wherever we went. I wrote on my phone. I hurried to get chores and kid homework done so there might be an hour I could grab when the girls went to bed and I might grasp at the last of the energy my brain had left. I still do this. I still plan my days and weeks to get in my writing time. My girls are bigger. So now they can help with chores so I can write. Now my husband and the girls know when I am writing leave me alone. It's ingrained in them. In fact both my girls already have a strong work ethic as well as dreams they want to achieve. I gave them that and my mother gave me mine. But I also do this with health issues. Thyroid disease, Diabetes and a host of other things. So don't tell me you are tired and have no time to Write. You make time for the things you love and sleep can come later, family sucking the life out of you can come later. One hour a day is yours if you take it. You not writing is your choice so I will ask you again.... is writing what you really want? Tough words. But answer the question. I will offer you some helpful hints. 1) Negotiate for the hour a day you need. You gotta schedule it so everyone including you knows this is your time to Write. 2) Know how much time you have and map out what you need to get done in that hour so you can maximize progress. Work with what you have. One hour a day or 4 hours on one evening. 3) Anything you do for your story counts. Planning. Brainstorming. Outlining. Writing. Work it! 4) Track your writing time. You will be able to see your progress there. Heck track your word or page count. 5) Never go back. I keep harping on this one. You cannot maximize your writing time if your are trying the polish the first chapter for 3 months. Edits come later. 6) Push yourself to write faster. Let the story flow. Edits come later. Do sprints with writer pals. Time yourself against your best time and word count. 7) opps. You missed a day. So what. Get back in the chair when you can and make up for lost time. OK. So do you really want this? Then go get it!!!