And then there are days you just don't feel like writing...

Good evening!

I've written quite a bit about authors who struggle to find the time to write.  It's a balancing act most of us out here have to perform every day just to keep afloat, but when you toss the idea of wanting to write in there, something that is time consuming, private, and generally not all that lucrative, then the balancing act gets tougher.

But then there are days when you just don't feel like writing.

It doesn't happen often, not for most writers, but there are days when the world is simply too much and all we want to do is curl up in front of the TV and hide.

You all know the signs.  You have way too much to do.  You've made a list and the list took too long to write so now you're already behind.  You start thinking about what you can cut off the list.  (I don't need to color my hair/shave my legs)  and you question your sanity for other items on the list  (why did I volunteer to make cookies for heaven's sakes?)

And then you hit the wall.  Somewhere between working out  (because you have to, because you told the planet you were going to go and you're a big lump so you better go) and making those cookies for the coworker who is doing a big favor for you  (let's hope no one knows you're using your "secret recipe" for cookies) you hit a wall.  Sure, it's only 7 PM, but you know that once that last batch of cookies hits the rack, nothing else is happening. You're not painting your toe nails  (which means you don't have to pack sandals for your weekend with the girls, which means you probably don't have to shave your legs because if you're not going to wear sandals you're certainly not going to wear Capri pants.) you're not waxing your eyebrows  (the bushy look is in anyway).

You are, however, going to hunker down with some Chinese take out and watch the "Project Runway" finale because, well, that's all you're really capable of doing in this mind set.

You certainly aren't in the right place to write.

I read someplace once that the great American novel was killed by the invention of Central Air.  The author of the article pointed out the great Southern authors and how simmering in the hot Gulf Coast summers created a sort of creative insanity that gave us many of the great American Novels. I tend to agree with that idea...to a point.  I think we are still a very creative society.  I think, however, that true creativity is being crushed under the weight of the "HAVE TO'S" in life.  I have to work.  I have to feed the children, I have to do laundry.  I have to take the cookies out of the oven.  (Can we tell exactly what Sarah is doing RIGHT NOW besides blogging?)

There are too many HAVE TO's in the world for real creativity to shine on a broad spectrum.  We're fed endless muck and retread TV shows because, and we watch because we're too exhausted to have to follow a show that takes some thought.  (I seriously have every episode of "Once Upon a Time" on my DVR.  I promise myself every week that I will catch up on it.) 

Right now, it should come as no surprise, I'm being crushed by "HAVE TO's."  I'm not in a place where I want to write.  The good news, the silver lining, to being a complete unknown in the world of writing, is that the deadlines you have are the ones you set and you can move them all you want.  I had a deadline for the two books I'm working on...and that deadline passed last week.

Of course, I also seemed to have lost my artist...Nicola?  Nicola Martinez?  Where are you??????   My novel has suddenly gotten boring, and I'm not finding my nit wit coworker quite as funny as I used to.

Never fear, however.  A day will come, very soon, when I get the urge to write again, and then all will be well.  I'll stop snacking late at night, I'll smile a lot more, and I'll ignore the HAVE TO's and listen to the WANT TO's.

But right now, I'm going to finish baking cookies and then I'm going to watch Project Runway.

A goal, no matter how ridiculous, is still a worthy goal.

Good morning all!

I'm writing to you from the icy depths of my home office in my basement. We are mere weeks away from my home office moving to the heated level of the house, but for now I'm still in the dungeon. (Yes, I'm taking a rare vacation day from the Evil Bossman, and doing NOTHING.)

Hopefully you all had a good Christmas or whatever holiday you choose to celebrate at this time of the year. We have New Year's coming up, which is a time to spend with friends, as opposed to Christmas which is the forced march of doom to the bosom of your family. I am looking forward to spending New Year's with my very good friend and critique partner and her family this year.

But I digress.

I have a deadline my friends and I'm afraid I've bitten off way more than I can chew. Last year, many of you remember, I entered the Amazon Breakthrough Novel of the Year contest. I had some success, making it to the quarterfinals, or the top 500 out of 10, 000 manuscripts. Not too bad, right?

Well, I got notice again this year that the deadline for the 2010 contest is fast approaching. And I've decided to enter. But, I've also decided it's probably not a good idea to enter the same novel. (Even though for marketing purposes I have made a bunch of changes to said novel.) So, I've decided to take my notes from a story I've had in my head for about ten years and write a full novel in a month. The absolute deadline is February 7.

Yes, I have lost my ever lovin' mind.

It took me almost 30 years to write my first and Dream in Color, my second novel, took me six years, not counting the intense year of editing with Aly, my editor at Wild Rose Press. So what makes me think I can have a novel fully written and contest ready in a few weeks?

I have no idea.

But think of it as a new approach to a new year's resolution. This is about focus. Maybe I get the thing done, maybe not. But it's time to sit down and write something new and this might be the thing for it. I'm hoping to take a week off of work at some point in January and really get it going, but as any writer will tell you, it's not the time off from anything that produces a book. It's the focus.

I've done my best writing late at night when all others are in bed and the house is quiet. I've also done good work at work when I simply keep my flash drive open on my work computer and work when I'm not answering phone calls or emails.

My point is that while it's not likely to happen, I've set a goal for myself, and it's one that I really do want to achieve. And, in the end, maybe I don't have an entry for the contest. But I'll have a new novel to edit and market.

And, in the world of writers, isn't that a worthy goal?