I got some interesting feedback to this post about hard work in two other places where I posted it (Redroom.com and VibrantNation.com). Some people found it inspiring. Others had a bunch of excuses about why they couldn’t get their writing done…or about putting in the work hard.
In the latter case, I heard excuses. I’ve had some of those over the years. I still do. I whine, “I don’t have enough time.” I tell you what, though; ever once in a while I give myself a deadline or I set my mind to achieving a goal, and I make the time. I give things up. Like I said in that other post, I let sleep and exercise and other things fall by the wayside as I turn to doing what I want to do: write.
I did that when I entered the National Novel Writing Month contest one year. (Yes…I wrote some fiction—the same novel with which I won the pitch contest at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference a few years ago.) I didn’t have time to write a novel. I wanted to write a novel, though, because I thought it would be fun and I had an idea I wanted to pursue. So, I gave myself a daily word count I had to meet, and meet it I did. And I “won” that year.
So, what are your excuses? And are you willing to toss them by the wayside to get down to the task at hand—writing? How badly do you really want to achieve your writing goals? If you really want to achieve them, you’ll stop whining and making excuses and just do what you say you want to do. Write.
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