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Hey, remember that story about how Beethoven completed the 9th Symphony but never got to hear it, on account of being deaf?
Yeah.
Oh, hey, remember the bit about how John Milton went blind before he finished Paradise Lost, but went on to finish that and then another edition and some other genius-level writings too, before he died?
Yeah.
Oh, and another thing, remember that story about the kid with the perfectly normal brain locked in a spastic body, whose mother held his head still so he could tap one key at a time on the typewriter with a pointer thingy strapped to his forehead and he wrote an entire novel that way? One with words your average 40-year old intellectual might have to run to the dictionary to look up?
Yeah.
So here I am, struggling to get the words down on paper for my current novella project, and feeling all sorry for myself about how hard it is to write and balance home projects and family responsibilities and a rapidly-escalating dayjob workload, and I’m thinking…I should just STFU about it and get shizz done.
Others have done it before me. With worse situations. With more demanding responsibilities. People have written novels while in labor camps, or prison, or hospital. They’ve written while having more kids than I do, or longer dayjob hours, or larger home projects.
I think…I think I don’t have much of an excuse. Tiredness? Sure. I’m beat. A lot. Stress? Yeah, I’ve got that.
But I’m not in a labor camp, I’m not blind, and I’m not disabled. Excuses be damned. I’m getting this friggin’ project done.
So what’s your excuse?
I think some of the time...okay most of the time creative people need the strife and turmoil to create. Let's not forget pain and anguish! We are excellent at creating our own.
ReplyDeleteOut of chaos comes beauty.
Graduate school and teaching are my two biggest excuses. When it comes to writing fiction, the only one I have to answer to is myself. When it comes to my graduate work, I have to face my dissertation committee (which is made up of professors who I admire and aspire to be like when I grow up) when I'm not making as much progress as I'd like to. When it comes to teaching, my students e-mail me and ask me again and again about when I will finish grading their papers (even if they just turned in their work hours earlier).
ReplyDeleteHey, I'm writing as fast as I can. Don't interrupt.
ReplyDeleteI used to list One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich as one of my favorite books, but I took so much flak, I stopped mentioning it. Apparently it's depressing. Go figure.
Work... That's my main excuse. :-(
ReplyDeleteI struggle to maintain both my day job and the writing yet I have set myself a pretty tough deadline to finish the first draft by. I think the deadline is pushing me forward. I may find myself comatose at the end of it for a week, but it's something I really want to do.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I've read a lot when browsing blogs is, even if you struggle for time, just sitting for ten minutes while you wait for the kettle to boil (OK the kettle won't take that long, but you get my drift) will push your work forward 250 words, say. Keep doing it as and when you can, but daily, and you will get what you want and be able to do both.
My excuse is reading a snarky author's blog. That's it. That's all I have.
ReplyDeleteummm, yea...lol I don't have any excuses, guess I should go write.
ReplyDeleteI have a plethora of excuses, but then, who doesn't? That's what makes an excuse an excuse - anything could be one.
ReplyDeleteI point you to Scalzi, here: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2010/09/16/writing-find-the-time-or-dont/
It's harsh. It's *really* harsh. But he has a point.
Too much to do that I can't do anything. Uhnnn.
ReplyDeleteGuess I don't have one either.
ReplyDeleteBe sure to stop by this weekend. I found an LOL Cat just for you!
Yeah, but, we'd have so much more free time if we were in prison. And the food would be free. It's a creative hotbox!
ReplyDeleteThere's some perspective for ya.
ReplyDeleteI don't need an excuse, I'm gettin shizz done.
Good for you Simon! Keep at it. I think for me, my excuse is that if I write during the day, I feel guilty not cleaning my house or playing with my kids (even though I write during rest time for them). And, when my hubby comes home, I feel guilty writing when I could/should be spending time with him. I can't do late night writing- with little kids, I personally need a good 8 hours of sleep to function. So, I'm getting the book finished, but at a slower pace and I'm trying to be okay with that.
ReplyDeleteWell I had an excuse until I read your post. Now I feel pretty lame.
ReplyDeleteI've got the kids, but hey, there are many people who do and they seem to get the job done. I don't like my guilty conscious. I struggle with that bugger everyday, but writing is what I love and my novels may take forever, but I'm doing it,not just saying it.
ReplyDeleteGo Simon.
No excuse - I got it done!
ReplyDeleteMy excuse is that I have two grad courses to finish next week THEN I will get back to the manuscript. :)
ReplyDeleteKelly Polark
Go Simon! *waves pom poms* this post is so true. You need to stop making excuses, sit your ass down and WRITE. Otherwise those pom poms might get exchanged for a whip. And you know you don't want that to happen. *threatens*
ReplyDeleteI don't have an excuse either. June's been busy. But my goal is to write at least 50k before the end of July :)
What, so my reasons aren't good any more just because I got bested by a blind guy? Well excuuuuuuuse me.
ReplyDeleteDang. Suddenly my excuses seem ridiculous. And lame. So I'm going to write....Now. :)
ReplyDeleteThose people you mentioned didn't have Facebook or blogs.
ReplyDeleteJust kidding. I think periods of high productivity and low word count are normal.
If I'm not getting much done, I sit my butt down and write, no excuses.
Work/College Prep? Is that an excuse...probably not but it's the one I'm sticking with. But now after reading your post I need to go get work done. If they can do it with all those restrictions then there is no reason why I can't right?
ReplyDeleteI've been using teaching as my excuse, but it makes me sick to admit that I make excuses at all. I need to get it together and just write.
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower and I'm excited to have found your blog.
-Miss GOP
www.thewritingapprentice.com
There is no excuse for my sniveling incompetence.
ReplyDeleteWildlypoetic: Oh, I couldn't agree more! That's why I embrace random acts of randomness at all times. :)
ReplyDeleteNW: What are students coming to these days? I never did that to *my* teachers after walking to school barefoot in the snow uphill both ways....
VR: What? What's wrong with depressing!? I write literary fiction, m'dear; depressing's my stock-in-trade. :D
Chrystalla: I hear you, good lady!
Rebecca: Yeah, comatose is about right. But that's what coffee is for, right? ;)
Jeff: Since I post once a month or so, man...you need a better excuse!
Eliza: There you go, m'dear! :fistbump:
Jess: Yowza! Scalzi doesn't pull any punches, does he? But yes, he *does* have a point. :sigh:
Peaches: Well, yo umanaged to comment on my post, so that's something, right? ;)
LDW: Ooh! I'll be sure and swing by, m'dear! :D
Karen: Don't think that hasn't crossed my mind, good lady! ;)
ReplyDeleteMatt: Word. Here's to getting shizz done. *cheers*
Kelly: Um. 8 hours of sleep? What's that? <.<
Stephanie: Oh, me too, m'dear. That's why I wrote it. :castigates self:
Christine: Ah, guilt. I'm frenemies with guilt. I may yet destroy it, but haven't quite managed yet. :)
Alex: I hope you don't mind if I resent you a tiny bit, good sir. ;)
Kelly: I will allow that excuse, on the grounds that we share good taste in music. :)
Sara: You can go ahead and fetch the whip. I'll wait.... ;)
Nate: The blind guy could also probably kick your ass. How about them apples? :)
Charissa: Good on you, good lady!
Medeia: Y'know, you have a point. I think Milton'd have gotten nothing done if he'd been tweeting all the time.... ;)
Hayley: That, m'dear, is precisely my point!
MissG: Well, welcome, good lady! Glad to have you around. :)
Christine: Incompetence is bad enough, but *sniveling* incompetence? Whoa. :pat pat: It'll be okay. Just let it out.... ;)
I don't have excuses, just laziness and procrastination. Sometimes I look at what I've accomplished so far and I'm shocked I've done all that amidst everything else going on. Other days it doesn't seem like I've done much at all. Matter of perspective. I wish you luck! I know you'll get this done. :)
ReplyDeleteI had to run this same course of motivational thinking while getting my Bachaelors in social work. Telling myself and my family the rewards would eventually be worth sacrifice.
ReplyDeleteSeven years later it has. Seven years.
Now I'm doing it again with an even slimmer chance at success.
Maybe I'm a crisis junky . .
Find your incentive and stick to it Simon. You've had several publishing successes to know you can make it in the long haul.
You'll get there. Like Stephen Kings short story THE LONG WALK, you may be crazy when you do, but that's not the point, is it?
..........dhole
Michelle: You, m'dear, have been quite productive thus far in your career. I think you're already ahead of the game. :)
ReplyDeleteDonna: What does it say about me that I read that story and said, "I would TOTALLY enter that!"? I think I'm crazy already.... >.>
Your LOL Cat awaits you good sir!
ReplyDeletestress can kill my mojo. I find if I commit to drinking alot though, I can still write a fair bit.
ReplyDeleteLDW: I loved it! :D
ReplyDeleteHart: See, now *that's* my kind of solution. ;)
My excuse: new episode of Weeds is on tonight.
ReplyDeleteMP: I'd judge you, but my recent Firefly addiction would make that a tad hypocritical. ;)
ReplyDeletehahaha!!! Well, I would get that next chapter written, but I was busy reading your blog :D
ReplyDeleteGo for it, Simon! You can do this! :)
E: Thanks, dude! One day at a time, I'm getting there. :)
ReplyDelete