Don't Make Excuses...Just Write! Find The Time And Do It!

A good writer friend of mine is going to kick my butt for writing this, but here goes anyway...I'm a daredevil like that. I shall take the butt kicking if only to make my point.

"I want to be a mega published author some day--it's my dream--but I can't write. I'm just TOO busy to find the time I need to write ANYTHING."

Really? Is that so? *shakes a finger at you* Then you obviously don't want it as much as I thought you did, do ya? Do ya? DO YA? Frank. To the point. Yep. I am. I will make you see the wrong of your ways. Hee...hee...hee...I'm fun like that.

In my humble opinion, if you want something bad enough, you'll find a way to make it happen. That's the only way ANYTHING ever happens. Life IS busy. Unless you're a hermit with a kazillion bucks in the bank, have no spouse, no job, no kids, no pets, NO LIFE, then you will ultimately find yourself having to fit writing around your busy life. Life happens. You've got to live it--laundry has to be done; bills have to be paid; lawns need to be mowed; groceries need to be bought; dinner needs to be made--'tis life.

But let's take a look at that busy life of yours, shall we?

How much TV do you watch a day? What if you skipped one episode or missed one TV program, let's say, once a day for a week. That would be (doing some quick math here--it's not my strong suit so I may just have to do some estimating) 30 minutes X 7 days a week = 210 minutes (am I right? I'm an English Major not a mathematician). Right or wrong, that's a lot of minutes that could be put to writing.

Now, let's say you get an hour lunch break at work. Does it REALLY take you an hour to eat? I don't think so. Scarf your food in 30 minutes and look...the other 30 minutes is yours. It's a gift. So, 30 minutes X 5 days a week = 150 minutes you could use for writing.

This is adding up quick! Aren't you getting excited?

What about sleep? What if you got up just a half hour before work and set that aside for writing a paragraph or two? Not a morning person? Then stay up later than normal and write when the kiddos are in bed. There's another 30 minutes a day to put toward writing. Do both and you've given yourself a whole hour!

Already we've gained an hour and a half a day for writing (five days a week, anyway) if you take in account the half hour in the morning, the 30 minutes at lunch, and the 30 minutes of skipped TV watching.

So it can be done, my friend, it CAN be done (I love you, so therefore I push and irritate you like I do. That's what BFF writing buddies are for). And think about all that weekend time...there's SO much of it, if you plan it right. Make play dates for your kids. Send them on an outing with dad (dad's love that) and use that time to write. Housework will always be there. Laundry will always need to be done, but the longer you put off writing, doing what you love, the harder it will be do pick up and do it again (believe me, I know). It's better to make a habit out of it now than to wait until it's darn near impossible. I guess my question is, do you want this or not? I think you do. Then all there is left for you to do... is do it. No excuses. There's time to be had--you just need to find it. Time is there, and we can always find other ways to fill it, for sure, but if we can't touch the stars if we don't start building the stairs (okay, that was corny, but you get the point).

Make time and just write. Do it. Or I'll write another annoying post about you :) 

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