Shouldn't You Be Writing?

It’s been a tough year for me, for my family, for my dear friends. You might even say its been one helluva year. Changes, both tragic and joyful, have been coming at us so fast, I feel like time’s zipping by in one of those flippy calendar timelines they used to use in the movies to show the passage of months and years.

But if I am the writer that I claim to be, that I want to be, shouldn’t I be able to write, no matter what? Shouldn’t the desire, the discipline, the need to write be inside me always and not just on days where I have the time to sit down at the computer or when the muse smacks me upside the head? Shouldn't I be clipping merrily along, filled with joy because I'm writing my first contracted book? I’m seriously asking here because getting into this book has been difficult, even arduous.

Writers fall into two basic categories, plotters, who sit down and map out their stories before they start writing, and pantsers, who just start writing, full of faith that they will figure the story out as they write. (Pantsers write “by the seat of their pants.”) I am a pantser. Mostly. For me, stories begin with the people in my head. Characters show up and suddenly there is a circumstance, a “hey, what if this guy does this and then this woman comes in and does that?” kind of synergy happening. The characters are in my head, but man...life is really getting in my way.

So much is going on, mostly joyful stuff, but some not so happy. I'm letting it keep my mind and heart in chaos, which is not at all conducive to writing. So today, this day--December 19, I'm resolving to get my house in order. I'm committing to writing in the early morning again for 21 days. And yes, I know it's practically the holidays and how the heck am I going to do this during the dang holidays? Well, that's the test, isn't it? I'll give myself Christmas Day and New Year's Day off, but otherwise, the alarm is going off at six and I'm hauling my butt out of my nice warm bed and plopping it down in front of my computer. When I did that for Saving Sarah, it worked. I wrote without editing and got the first draft done in just under five months.

Hold a good thought, okay? If I can do 21 days, then I can keep going, so send me all your good writing mojo and I'll report in next Tuesday. Have a great rest of the week, y'all!

Oh, and the winner of last week's Women of Willow Bay Rafflecopter giveaway is Amanda Fucher. Amanda, Congratulations! I'm going to be contacting you today with more information!