Stop me if any of these sound familiar:
- "I don't have any energy left to write at the end of the day."
- "Once the kids are a bit older, I'll be able to get back into writing."
- "I can't write when there are other people in the house."
- "My husband [wife / child / cat] keeps
interrupting when I'm writing."
- "I always end up procrastinating when I mean to write."
There's some truth in all of these, of course. It is hard to find the energy to write, children and family members can be a huge distraction, and we're all tempted to procrastinate at times.
But – sometimes, at least – these are really just excuses.
One reader wrote, very honestly, in the recent Aliventures
survey, "I make a lot of excuses because I think I'm just afraid."
Is that true for you too?
I know it's been true for me over the years.
Even when you enjoy writing, it's often easier not to. After all, if you do make the time to sit down and write, you might have to face up to some things you'd rather not think about.
- What if your writing isn't really very good, after
all?
- What if you do have enough time ... and you've wasted the last five years?
- What if you write that novel / start that blog / finish that book ... and it doesn't achieve what you hoped for?
I think these are very real fears, and they can be difficult to cope with or even acknowledge. Ultimately, though, it's up to you to decide whether those fears get the better of you – or whether you write regardless.
What if your
writing isn't really very good, after all?
Even if that's true (and most writers judge their own work unncessarily harshly), the only way you're going to get better is by writing.
What if you do have enough time ... and you've wasted the last five years?
I'm sure you've accomplished a bunch of great things in those years and learnt a lot, even if you didn't get much / any writing done. Why not make the next
five years your best writing ones yet?
What if you write that novel / start that blog / finish that book ... and it doesn't achieve what you hoped for?
You'll never know if you don't try! Maybe the reality won't quite live up to your daydreams, but that's what the next novel / blog revamp / book is for...
Trust me, I know how real these fears are. But if you can make a commitment to writing, even
for just 10 minutes a day or an hour a week, then you'll find that they start to become less important than the reality of what you're achieving.
Start writing and keep writing ... and you'll be able to look back in a year's time to see how far you've come.
