The muse makes her appearance at 6 am.
Daily.
But here’s the rub. I am not a morning person. I am only up at this godforsaken hour because the Chihuahua refuses to acclimate from Eastern time to Pacific Daylight Time. Haley gets up each day precisely at six, jumps joyfully on my head and announces, in her own Chihuahua way, that the day has dawned. Dutifully, and because having a Chihuahua banging at your head is not that pleasant, I get up at six to feed and walk her. The muse is also awakened by the 8-lb monster, and it is during those tweams–the fleeting moments between dreaming and waking when you are finishing up a most delicious dream–that she fills my creative mind with the most brilliant of writing insights. Alliteration abounds and cadence croons.
But I have to pee, then feed and walk Haley. I have to get myself dressed and then there are so many emails and blog posts (like this one!) to write. By the time I settle in to the business of actually writing my book, the muse has vanished. So I end up cleaning the bathtub or polishing the silver (not really, we don’t have any silver), or reading the book of someone who, you know, actually finished their book.
Of course, this could be just one big excuse to avoid writing about the depression that preceded my incarceration, er, hospitalization. Depression is hard enough to deal with when you are in the middle of it. Writing about it years later brings up a lot of old s*%t I frankly just don’t want to think about right now.
So tell me, fellow writers, am I alone here? What are your favorite procrastination excuses and how do you stop avoiding and start writing?
Nancy Cook Writes 
I’m right there with you Nancy-Nance. I’m supposed to be journaling everyday, but can’t seem to get motivated; yet once I begin to write the first sentence or two it gets much easier. It’s that darn beginning that I avoid with every excuse in the book. (That was intended.)
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I see, then, I am in excellent company. 🙂
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Get rid of the “shoulds” and use the word Decide instead. Also, make a list of the things you’d like to get done, pick the one that is time sensitive, put question marks by all the others. It helps to keep you from feeling ‘avalanched’ by what’s on your list. Bipolar. Years of stress-reducing therapy 🙂
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One of the things I do is read other people’s blogs – oops! Busted as usual. Remember that everything you write is important, as is every thought. Our best writing is done when we don’t think about it, because when we think, we stifle the muse and cut off the sub-conscious.
That’s where the cool stuff lies, and is most active the minute we wake up, and that few moments before we fall asleep. To paraphrase a soon to be great writer, TWEAN_TIME. Keeping a journal beside the bed to jot down thoughts that trigger the subconscious coolness is what I do. Oh, yeah and a bag of dog treats for the little guy to give you the time. Keep writing my friend.
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Journal is now officially beside the bed. Thanks, Marts.
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I want to write all the time. I write perfect beginnings in my head, in my dreams. Yet, they never come to fruition. I am worried about offending the fictional (not really) character. Or being so transparent it is scary.
My life, so much regret, yet full of promise. You are writing your truth, your past, your present. You write so well that I cannot wait to read the next chapter. Carry on.
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Transparency is indeed scary. And fear of offending others, especially those we care about, is something I am trying to get over. It’s so important to be honest in memoir. Readers can spot a cover up or a dumbing down (or nice-ing down) of the truth. That’s probably why it’s taken me so long to write this memoir. Thanks for your encouragement. Carry on I must for now I have announced to the world through the interwebs that I am doing this! 🙂
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I sit down and start typing w/out editing. If I self-edit while typing doesn’t happen. Coffee helps too. Getting rid of any other stress helps too. I mean ANY other stress.
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