Monday is a Holiday...but Writers Never Sleep...er...take holidays

Really. We don't. It was a huge decision for me a few years ago when I decided NEVER to work on Sundays unless I was involved with a serious deadline.

Why? Because writers like to write. Lots of times we have to write to get what's on our brain off our brain so we can have normal social interactions!

But I digress.

Last week, I began writing the Prepping for Nano workshop. And it's a dilly. Mostly because this is through the writer's group Pennwriters. Most RWA chapters charge ten, twenty or thirty dollars for a class. Pennwriters changes more. So I think anything I do for them has to be FANTASTIC. Or at least filled with that many $$$ worth of information.

So as I was writing that workshop last week I thought about some things I hadn't thought of in a while.

Like how in the name of all that is holy do we push ourselves to get so much done in such a concentrated amount of time.

I use bribes. Seriously, you'd be surprised what I'd do for a fudgesickle.

I also constantly work on my motivation. I write to pay our mortgage. But some days, when I'm really struggling, I close my eyes and think of the beach. The water. Lying in the sun. Eating fresh fish. Strolling on the boardwalk in a mini-skirt (because my husband likes me in mini-skirts and no one knows me at the beach!). Having an ice cream cone. Having a drink at a bar...IN THE AFTERNOON. (LOL)

And I realize that we probably couldn't afford to go on vacation every year if I didn't write. And that gets me writing again.

I also sometimes find myself thinking about success, projecting forward, wondering what I'd do if a few hundred thousand people ... instead of tens of thousands...bought my books. Wouldn't that be cool?

Seriously.

No one loves to write more than I do, but I hate it when I can't get a scene to work. I'm struck by the same insecurities everybody else is. And that's when I start thinking or the mortgage, or the beach, or the potential to sell lots and lots of books -- and knowing in my heart that those books have to be good.

And that gets me back to the chair and writing.

So take today off...Labor Day...because everybody needs a break. But think about some of those things.

What will it take to get you excited about writing again when you're tired, or your scene sucks...or your entire book sucks?

The mortgage? The beach? The thrill of selling so many books?

Think that through. Don't let procrastination ruin the wonderful chance you have to live your dreams!

susan