Hello there,
I am one day late in writing this blog post. But, I can promise you I have a very good excuse. I have a dreadful sinus cold. Does that count as an excuse?
As I was lazing around this morning, I wondered why is it that I can get myself up to go to work when I have a cold, but am not able to get my butt into gear to write.
Is it because they are paying me to work?
If yes, is it possible to pay myself to write? You know, set a dollar amount, like 50 dollars per hour, and then keep an Excel tracker of my expenses. At the end of the month, I have to transfer the money I earned writing into my savings account.
I actually think this isn’t a bad idea. (I think that NyQuil must be turning me into some kind of genius.)
The other thing that has come to me as I am sitting here writing is that there are people at work with expectations of me. They give me a salary and they expect me to earn my salary. They also expect me to show up for work. They depend on me.
Now, I have to say, I am very fortunate to have supportive managers. (If you’re sick, you’re sick!)
But, there’s still that something inside of us as human beings (being so insecure, I guess) that makes us not want to let others down.
So why is it that I can let myself down. Why is that okay? Why don’t I have expectations of myself when it comes to writing?
So many questions and I would love to hear how you, dear fellow writers or creative people, have learned to be more disciplined.
I guess the trick is to just write.
I am working on a short story where Jane Austen is a character (I know it’s been done, but I think Jane Austen gets pegged as a 19th Century Harlequin Romance writer, but she wasn’t. She was so much more. I would love to see Jane bring these naysayers down with her unmatched wit.)
While searching for some interesting quotes from the authoress for my story, I found this little tidbit from a letter she had written to her sister, Cassandra. Ms. Austen said, “I am not at all in a humor for writing; I must write on till I am” (Oct. 26, 1813).
It is a truth universally acknowledged that all writers, whether they lived in 19th Century England or 21st Century Canada, feel uninspired to write. But, I must “write on till I am”.
Until next time,
Ellie