When Andrew was in the first grade he told his teacher he could not practice his reading at home because his mother was too busy sewing. To say the least, I was appalled because that was not entirely true. He’s still finding excuses because I know that unless it’s a piece of music, he doesn’t really like to read.
I guess I’m no better because I’ve come up with the same excuse – I can’t write because I’m too busy sewing. Sometimes it’s just easier to not get started on those chapters because I know I won’t get to finish.
To me, writing a book is not something that can be done with interruptions. With my sewing, I can get up and down, leave and return in ten minutes or so and get right back into the groove.
Writing takes more concentration. Your thoughts can’t be all over the place and neither can you. Now I’m not saying that you have to start and end your writing endeavor in one long writing session, but you do need a block of time in every day specifically blocked out for writing. Maybe I should put a lock on my door and leave my phone in the other room.
So my excuse is, I haven’t stopped writing, I just haven’t had time. I have a book – almost finished – it just needs an ending then editing and tweaking. Finding that block of time has been hard to find with H retired, plus my real job has been hectic this past year. Yes, I had to add that job part in there, but it’s true.
When I did have a few days of off-time I didn’t put pen to paper as I had planned. Instead I found myself taking those precious blank hours to detoxify from a stressful day by binge watching Netflix with H or getting absorbed in another historical fiction read. It was just so easy.
I plan to retire in a year or two, but I don’t want to wait that long to finish my current book. I need to be more consistent in planning my day around my writing instead of planning my writing around my day. Evidently, the latter didn’t work very well last year.
Writing is on the same level with exercise – you need to actually participate in the activity for any results!
~Elle
Finding Myself Through Writing 