A few days ago I was whining to my best friend (also a writer) about how I lack discipline and am not writing consistently.
We have this conversation quite often. We both teach high school and have families. We both have a tendency to want to solve everyone else’s problems before our own. We both really want to publish a book some day.
Now, we know that means sitting down to write on a consistent basis. Daily, really. We just don’t always do what we know we need to do. Sound familiar?
It’s summer and if I choose to I can sleep in every day.
I really want to sleep in every day. I love sleeping in. I could sleep through anything.
The problem is than when I sleep in, by the time I get up, I am drawn into the daily grind and too distracted to settle in to write. I go through my day promising myself that I will get to it later.
Later, I am too tired.
The early morning is a writer’s paradise. The world is quiet and no one needs anything or wants to talk to you.
I didn’t exactly wake with the roosters this morning, but I did set an alarm and was ready to leave the house before 9.
My friend and I drove to Bayview Market downtown Olympia and sat outside trying to write to the squawking of seagulls (a nice soundtrack for writing, I think).
I struggled. It had been days since I’d really gotten into a flow. I was beginning to doubt everything. I considered leaving after writing only a page (it had been an hour). Look what you did! I told myself. You wrote a whole page! That’s good for a day, right?
But when I looked over and saw my friend, hands on home row, focused and still writing, I stayed on for more.
In the end, I had finished a chapter I felt good about and written an outline.
*reluctantly sets alarm*
What sacrifices are you willing to make to achieve your writing goals?
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Some past posts to keep you making time:
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone