The Excuse of a Not Having a Castle
Aspiring writers (* or fill in the blank) can sometimes be ridiculously precious.
“I would write more but, I have too much going on”
I need a quiet place and I don’t have one.
Too many kids, too much laundry.
If only I could seclude myself in a castle on the Scottish highlands.
I would love to write a novel, but I don’t know where to start.
I don’t have time.
What if what I write is not any good?
Excuses to the horizon.
But here’s the problem with excuses:
We all have them. Some of us have better excuses than others. But everyone has a reason to not write.
Here’s what I’ve learned from daily blogging and getting the first draft of a book together over the past year and a half.
If this is what you want to do, there’s only one way forward.
- Schedule the time.
- Do the work.
- Ignore your feelings (or leverage your feelings).
But never make decisions based on your feelings.
That rarely works out well.
There’s no other option.
Because there will always be excuses. Sometimes legitimate excuses.
There will always be feelings.
Writing is hard work. You will write things that aren’t good. You will have to learn to write when you don’t feel like it. You have to figure out a time to write when you don't think you have time.
Or you will never write. You'll just think about it. Or worse, talk about it.
You must learn to write while not having access to a Scottish castle.
The best way is to schedule it and do it. Every day.
* This applies to anything you aspire to do that’s probably not your “job” today. Art. Woodwork. Photography. Cooking. Accounting. Fill in your own blank space.
What do you aspire to do?
