no more excuses

Homework 3.1

List 10 things that get in the way of your writing. Go back and write a sentence about how to deal with each issue.

1. I think my life is too ordinary. I spend most of my time in my house, observing my children as they play, trying to take care of never-ending housework, and wondering when I'll have the opportunity to shower again.
I need to make my life interesting. If I think my life is ordinary then it's up to me to figure out what needs to be done to add spice, color and spunk to the regular day-to-day. Life is what you make it.

2. I'm a procrastinator, when I think of something interesting, or important, I wait to write it down. Next thing I know I've forgotten what it was.
I have a million notebooks, it's high time I employ them. If they are readily available and out where I can see them I will be more likely to jot a quick thought in them. I need to make it convenient.

3. I don't always have time. Babies. Dishes. Laundry. Meals. Dishes. Toys that need to be picked up, again. Books that need to be put back on the shelf, again. Shopping. Bills. You get the picture.
The dishes can wait, it's time for the kids to nap, Mr. Boss can do his own laundry, dinner isn't for another 5 hours. As long as the bills are paid and the babies are napping everything else can go on hold.

4. I'm afraid I won't be successful. I'm nervous to put myself out there, for fear that no one will care what I have to say, or that it isn't anything new or important.
Who cares if I fail or succeed? Won't I feel like the biggest dope if I never even try to achieve my dreams?

5. I never know what to write about. I love my kids, but how many people want to read about them everyday? (Besides family.)
Again, the notebooks. And files. It's time to collect inspiration. Pages from magazines and catalogs. A joke I want to elaborate on. A line from a book I'm reading. Something the kids said or did.

6. I get distracted. I'll sit down to write, but I'll start catching up on the blogs I follow instead. Or I check facebook, to see if I've gotten any new messages or comments. (Thankfully our TV isn't hooked up for anything other than movies. That's one less distraction.)
Sometimes the distractions are good, I usually feel inspired after going through other blogs. If I've become distracted then I shall at least try to collect inspirations in the many things that grab my attention away from the pen in my hand.

7. I want a snack. Sometimes my muse might be trying to whisper lovely ideas into my head, but sometimes my desire for cake is louder.
Cake is important. The writing can wait.

8. I'm tired. I stay up late, get woken up in the middle of the night, never quite feel rested when I roll out of bed.
Early to bed, early to rise, makes this mom productive, happy and wise.

9. It seems like every possible story has already been written.
Every person is a new story. Nobody is the same, we all have different (similar, but different) thoughts. If I don't tell my story it will never be heard.

10. I'm not reading enough.
Read more. There is a shelf full of books, just waiting to be read and reread, right in the living room. Sometimes blogs and magazines count as legitimate reading, but books are important too. Read, read, read.

Now use your sentences to write a mission statement called "I'm going to write and here's how."

Make life interesting. Life is what you make it. Notebooks are to be readily available and out where I can see them. Make it convenient. As long as the bills are paid and the babies are napping everything else can go on hold. Who cares if I fail or succeed? I'll feel like the biggest dope if I never even try to achieve my dreams. Collect inspiration, fill notebooks and files, with pages from a magazine or catalog, a joke I want to elaborate on, a passage from a book I'm reading, something the kids said or did. Employ the distractions. If I've become distracted then I shall collect inspirations in the many things that grab my attention away from the pen in my hand.
Cake is important. The writing can wait. Early to bed, early to rise, makes this mom productive, happy and wise. Every person is a new story. Nobody is the same. If I don't tell my story it will never be heard. Read more. Read, read, read.