Get Out of Your Own Way!

If you haven't signed up for the Gearin' Up to Get an Agent Blogfest, now's your time!

Please tell me I'm not the only one who makes a list of writerly things to do the night before.  You know, the kind when your head hits the pillow, just before you float away to sleep you smile because this is it.  Because of this list you are finally going to get it together and make it all happen the way you want. 

Then the next day comes.  You oversleep, the baby is sick, your daughter is yelling at you because she wants to go to the pool and your husband is out of clean socks.  By the time you get the children calm and load of laundry in, your emails have piled up.  You really should check them because you don't want to get behind.  There could be some great writing info in there, maybe a tidbit on great agents and that will be important if you ever finish your novel.

Finally, all caught up, it's time to get down to business.  Oh wait, the kids are hungry.  Is it already lunchtime?  And that laundry, can't forget to put it in the dryer.  Might as well do another load while you're at it.  Oh and the house, you at least need to straighten it.

What kids?  You say you're tired of being cooped up in the house all day?  The guilt settles.  To the park you go!

Once again...kids are good, second load of laundry is drying--the rest can wait.  It really is time to write. 

Oh, hey honey.  Is it already 5:30?  Guess you'd better start dinner, clean up dinner, get the kids bathed and in bed. 

Whew!  Now you're going to do it...get one word on paper at least.  No wait, Vampire Diaries season finally is on tonight.  You can't miss that and then if you don't get in bed you won't be able to move in the morning.

Okay, fine, after you watch that you will make another list for tomorrow and this time you'll be better.  This book isn't going to write itself.

Sound like a day in your life?  If not, good for you! 

Do you get in your own way?  This example is one tiny thing I do in a long list of road blocks.  What are yours and how do you deal with them?

A couple things I do to get out of my own way are:

1)Find the writing time that works for me and stick with it.  For me this happens to be early before the kids wake up.  Talking myself out of it and sleeping in would be nice, but then writing doesn't happen when I do.  We are all different.  What is right for you?

2)Break down my writing goals into small attainable goals.  How long do you want your current novel to be?  When do you want to finish the first draft?  How many days do you plan on writing?  Figure those three things out and you will come up with a number.  Mine is 1283.  Is your number doable for you?  If not tweak some things, but get your number and stick to it.

3) Stay on course.  It is easy to get side tracked with emails, play times, phone calls and the many other things that come in our way every day.  Try setting time aside for each of these things so they don't interfere.  Then...don't cheat.  If the phone rings while you are writing, don't pick it up.  Plan play time and when it comes make it happen, don't wait.  The kids will be happier and so will you.

These are just a few things that work for me, but just like my novel, I am a work in progress so I'd love to hear from you.  What do you do to get out of your own way?

Momentary Lapse of Judgement

Don't you hate it when you have the best intentions only to belittle those intentions by not following through with them.

Such seems to be my life when it comes to writing.

Oh to describe what writing is to me...pure adrenalin, all encompassing, passionate and self fulfilling.  Those are just a few of the wonderful attributes that make it a love of my life.  To say it is a perfect union would be a lie.  It's more like an intense rendezvous filled with frenzy and intrigue, solace and oneness.  The ups and downs are many but they are all meaningful.

The problem comes when realization hits that it isn't just me and my computer riding off into the sunset.  My life is full of many wonderful things like children, a husband and a family.  It is also wrangled together with the hated things like guilt and self consciousness as well as the negatives I can't try to ignore such as moving three states over, paying bills, trying to sell a house in an unforgiving market and so on. 

Every day a battle wages in my head about what is more important, possibly fulfilling a lifelong dream of writing and being published or putting it on the back burner because I am not meeting the needs of the other 50 million things in my life. 

For a while writing was losing the fight when one day I talked to my husband who told me it was okay to let go and just do it.  Then my mom, same day, later that evening said, "You really need to finish this book Deana."

The other loves in my life are prepared to make sacrifices so I can do what truly makes me happy which is why they are so special and cause just as much emotion in me as does my writing.

So my quest has once again started.  It actually started a few weeks back and I feel the fires stoked and the power surging.  I am super charged and ready to go.

Look out world, a very passionate woman is on the verge of breaking free!