Remember how I told you yesterday would be my first day with the boys all back in school again??? I’m a liar. The 7yo was home again. *head thunk* Now he has an ear infection. WE HAVE THE COOTIES AND THEY WON”T GO AWAY!!!!
What does this mean in the big scheme of things? Well, a chunk of my morning was eaten up by a Dr. visit and w-a-i-t-i-n-g at CVS. Grrr So my big plans to get EVERYTHING done on my domestic and professional list didn’t happen. Not like it was possible anyway, but at least now I can blame it on all those minutes that I used making toast, puncturing juice boxes and giving kisses. Ha! More than anything, I just want him to feel better–he’s been one off for quite a few weeks now–in and out of school. We joke that he’s allergic to academia this year.
As for you dear reader, I’m keeping this short and sweet because the school bus arrives with the 9yo in 45 minutes and I need to go grab my time turner and get some more stuff done. But my question to you is, what is the biggest obstacle you encounter when trying to work on your writing? What are your cooties and how do they mess you up? What slows you down the most? Are your cooties in your control or out of your control?
One more day with the 11 year old home and then I’m back to my regularly scheduled program. I had a great vacation and I’m NOT looking forward to getting up at 5:30 again. *head thunk* But it’s just part of the awesomeness of being a mom. Not familiar with what I’m talking about? Here you go…
It’s gonna be a long week. Let’s start it off right. LOL!
What part of the Parent Rap cracks you up? For some reason I always love the part about tying shoes in little knots LOL! Don’t have kids–look at all you have to look forward to. *snicker* Happy Monday!
A rare moment of stillness and silence captured for posterity!
Yesterday I was keeping my promise to myself and focusing on revisions. I even hauled my laptop and marked-up manuscript to the lobby of the dance studio. I was kinda pumped because I was able to focus and move through my notes while sitting in the middle of three classrooms that were blaring different sets of music and instructions. I was in the zone. How could that be? There have been days when I’ve had the perfect work conditions and get less done. *head thunk* I sound like I’m asking for an answer from you, but I’m not. I know the truth. For me its a combination of being ready and being determined.
READINESS: The truth is there are times when I just don’t know what to write. And for some of those times, it’s good for me to take a moment or two or however long it is, to mull over what I’m doing. I know I need to let the thoughts that sit in my finger tips, tumble around in my deeper places. I believe there is more to me than I’m capable of understanding and sometimes I just have to trust myself. I’m learning and changing and growing constantly and all of that takes time. But in all fairness, there are moments when I’m just scared that I suck and I think I’m not ready. Book 2 is kinda hard folks. It’s not unlovable, but it’s kind of like the second time you get pregnant and you realize it’s not going to be anything like the first time where you got to sleep when you were tired and people pampered you and stuff. Book 2 is like…Hey–I know you’re tired but you have a two year old with a fever and you need to get up every 45 minutes because they are crying and uncomfortable. And I know you have a sensitive stomach right now, but the baby just vomited across six rooms. And to top that all off, don’t expect a baby shower either or time for a spa day… Yeah, Book 2 is kind of like that, but different. Word vomit is a little milder on the stomach. LOL!
DETERMINATION: I’m absolutely a person who loves to work from home with my own schedule–I like my creative freedom. I like to be able to juggle my family life. I like to run. I like to have less stress. I like to avoid laundry by doing social media. BUT–I benefit from having some manageable deadlines. The people pleaser in me responds to that. Give me too much, too quickly and I will get it done (I’m one determined and competitive person on the inside) but I’ll be reduced to sludge. I’ll burn out like a shooting star. I’m not a race horse who responds well to spurs in my side, but lead me to the starting line and tell me that I’m not as good as the other horses and I’ll run my ass off to prove it isn’t true. There is a kernel of strength within me that gets me over that finish line. I need a little push, but not a beating. That’s when determination works best for me.
So what happens when readiness and determination collide in a perfect storm? Well, I get stuff done. I mean–I’m still scared. I’m pissing in my shoes every time I stop to think about it all too closely. BOOK 2!!!!!! Failure is such a bigger target than success. But I’m at that point where I know one thing for sure. There is something that scares me more than writing a bad book–it’s writing no book at all. It’s that simple and THAT just makes me laugh and revise. Ready and determined.
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
Bill Cosby
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”
Michael Jordan
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
Winston Churchill
“The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.”
Buddha
Now I’m totally inspired for another day of revisions!!! What calms your fear of failure? What gets in your head and keeps you from moving forward? What’s your best overcoming failure story? Got another good failure/success quote to share? Have you been pregnant a second time????
January 2nd of any year fills me with as much excitement as the kick off of the holiday season. As much as I love all the hoopla, I also love the the un-hoopla. In fact, by New Year’s Day, my hoopla meter has begun to spin into a red-hot, critical alert zone and it’s only with the careful removal of decorations, making writing a priority, the return to exercise and healthy eating that I can survive. Today, two out of three of my boys are back in school and it it will be that way until Tuesday, so I’m thinking of these last half-hoopla days as kind of a blitz to get ready to get down to the business of revision. Decorations will get stowed, healthy food shopped for and the laundry needs to get done! (Ha! you knew that was coming.) All in preparation for me digging in and finishing my revisions ASAP! It is time. The story I’m writing is pushing me to go out into the world.
So, here is my list of “resolutions” or what I’m thinking of as my IT’S TIME TO list for 2013.
It’s time to…
*Return to healthy eating and exercise-PRONTO! I feel toxic and I can’t stand it.
*Try very hard to get to bed at an earlier hour and get more sleep. I do everything better with more sleep.
*Finish revising THE OPPOSITE OF GRAVITY with a hard focus.
*Sell THE OPPOSITE OF GRAVITY!
*Continue to market the heck out of TOUCHING THE SURFACE and sell more copies.
*Sell the foreign rights of TOUCHING THE SURFACE. (Come on–how cool would that be?)
*Do more school visits because I love them.
*Be a speaker at more writing and book events. (Putting my blabber mouth to use.)
*Continue to read in and outside my box, because every book I ingest informs my future writing endeavors. Be a sponge.
*Continue to know who I am as a writer. This is my journey and only I can own it.
What about you? What’s on the agenda for 2013? How do you feel about the hoopla? Are you ready for a clean slate or are you curled up under a crunchy tree, eating the last of the cookies and singing carols? What’s the plan Stan?
