Today's Excuse: I can't write NOW, I have to (insert excuse here)

We're all guilty: We've put off our writing because of more "pressing" matters. After all, if we don't get done with X, we wouldn't be able to concentrate on our writing anyway. It's better to have our minds clear. So, we'll sit right down and start writing as soon as X is done, and of course Y, and, while we're at it, might as well finish Z...

ZZZ. The next thing you know, you're wiped out from all of your non-writing tasks, and there's nothing left for your writing. You rationalize: It couldn't be helped, I had stuff to do...

Excuse Editor's Tip:

Instead of making excuses for not writing, make writing your excuse.

Of course there are things that really must get done. I'm not advocating locking yourself in a room and leaving your responsibilities totally behind. I don't want to get emails from "writing widows" missing their significant others. However, if you've been struggling to get to your writing because of X,Y, Z or a combination of them all, you must re-frame the excuses to make writing a priority in your life.

The Excuse:

I can't write NOW, I have a sink full of dirty dishes!

The Edit:

I can't do those dishes NOW, I have to write for thirty minutes!

These smaller blocks of time will get you in the habit of allowing yourself to write, instead of trying to choose what is more crucial. Neither has to suffer, but when you start thinking of your writing as something that MUST be done, it will take as much urgency as your mundane chores. Why not do the fun stuff--your writing-- first?

The Excuse:

I won't have time to write tomorrow, I'm hanging out with my friends.

The Edit:

I'll meet up with my friends after I'm met tomorrow's writing goals, even if I have to wake up a bit earlier or postpone catching up with my TIVO.

By scheduling your writing time with your other recreational activities, you'll begin to view it like any other planned recreational activity. Would a golfer give up golfing just because she had to schedule a tee- time?

Your writing is just as important as doing housework; it cleans the cobwebs from your mind and freshens your spirit.
Your writing is just as important as spending time with friends and family; it cultivates relationships with your characters and enriches your life experience.

A few other helpful sources:
Time to Write: Professional writers reveal how to fit writing into your busy life
Write the Whole time, no matter how little of it you have: Check out Write or Die!
Write Is a Verb: Sit Down, Start Writing, No Excuses

What happens when you put your writing at the top of your priorities, even for a few minutes a day? Are you pleased with your progress? Are you surprised your house didn't get swept up in chaos because you pulled out the pens before the pans?

Excuse Editor's 12 Edits of Christmas

It's the holidays! We shouldn't even think about our writing now, right? Wrong. There may be no better time of year for your writing than right now.

1.Better to Give than to Receive
This time of year you think about generosity toward others. But what about the characters in your novel? Don't they deserve some time and attention as well? Add them to your list. Give them a gift of a new setting or plot twist.

2.Home for the Holidays
 You may be looking forward to time spent with your family for the holidays. Or it may be driving you back to the egg nog again and again. Either way, pay attention. Take a step back. Let the writer in you describe the emotions. What words best describe the feeling in the room when the joyful toddler shreds the wrapping paper. What about when that one crazy cousin digs up a past event best left buried? Later, alone with your pen, a memoir might surface, or a character may discover a secret.

3.Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
Surround yourself in the Magic. Rediscover your child-like sense of wonder and hope and let it guide your writing. There was a time when you believed one night was long enough for one person to bring smiles to millions of kids. Ignore your adult defined limitations for a while and believe that the time you have is more than enough to build your own creation.

4. A Christmas miracle
You have been given a gift. A calling to create. Follow your star. Have faith in your own daily miracle of creation.

5.Deck the Halls
The foundation has already been laid. You have drafts piling up as high as the snow drifts outside-- short stories, poems, your novel, your memoir. Pour a cup of hot chocolate and start reading. What can you do to spruce up your story? What do you need to rearrange to make it feel more like the season of your story?

6.Dashing through the snow
 Spending hours in the car, bus, plane, airport? Perfect. Pull out that notebook and write. Unless you are driving (or piloting), of course. Airport delays? You have no excuse not to write then. There are only so many Cinnebon's you can eat.

7. New Year's Resolutions
 Let me guess, you resolve to "get healthy", or some variation. Make sure to have healthy goals for your writing, as well. Make them more specific: instead of "write more" say, "Write at least five pages (or hours, etc) a week".

8.Kwanzaa
 Do you know much about this holiday? I don't. Let the season be a reminder that there is always so much to learn and so many different ways to view the world. Research a place you've never been and use it as a setting. Try to take on the point of view foreign to your own.

9.Charge it!
As you spend your hard earned cash this season, consider a few things. If you want to write for a living, or for a supplemental income, are you doing all you can? Do you keep a continuous stream of submissions and queries active? Do you focus on paying markets, or at least those that will give you enough recognition that it will be worth writing for free? Are you willing to give yourself a Christmas bonus this year: time and supplies to better reach your writing goals?

10.Fruitcake
Don't let any of your unwanted Christmas gifts or rejection dampen your spirits. Enthusiasm causes expectations to be high, with the holidays and your writing. You thought it would all turn out perfect, and then, you get a negative critique or a "sorry, not for us" note. Just realize, it is part of the tradition. Set the chilly rejection to the side and move on. Spring will be here before you know it.

11.Rudolf
 Maybe you are worried that your writing is "too strange" for some people, that instead of seeing your work for its originality, others will view it as an invitation to ridicule. They may. But, at some point, someone may see the worth in your imagination, and decide that more need to experience your ability to shine the light in a new way.

12.Peace and Joy
Finally, allow the season to remind you that the stress, heartache, and costs associated with writing are necessary struggles to get to the ultimate goal: a feeling of peace and joy with your writing. Just like that crazy uncle you have to deal with once a year, the one who drives you bonkers but you love anyway, your sometimes misbehaving writing means well. You can't help loving it and will continue to honor it as such.

What are your favorite holiday stories? These may not be the same ones found on the TV year after year. Maybe they're the ones that are told around the kitchen table, the dishwasher humming in the background, while your loved ones sit with bloated bellies and just one more piece of pie, talking about the time Grandma tried her first margarita and missed Midnight Mass. Or the Christmas after Grandpa's stroke, when he fell down hard because he refused to use a walker, and yet still managed a snappy retort: "I don't need a walker, I need a parachute!"

Writing is a way to keep memories alive, no matter what the season. So make it a part of your holiday tradition. You'll be grateful you recorded the musings of a loved one, or the disposition of your mind when you wrote that short story.

Have a blessed holiday.


P.S. Miss you, Gramma and Grampa...

One Tweet at a Time

A quick note from the desk of the Excuse Editor:

I'm making my way around the world of social networking. My Space was left to collect dust when I discovered Facebook (I'll be announcing the Excuse Editor Fan Page soon). I even discovered the Writer's Digest Community. But it's taken a while to talk myself into 'tweeting'. Still not totally conviced, I signed up anyway. I'm certainly not a singing songbird yet, but you can find my sporadic tweets at http://twitter.com/ExcuseEditor.

While navigating around the one and two liners, I came across a 'novel' idea.

Did you ever play this writing game?: Someone starts off a story with one or two sentences, and then each person in the room adds one sentence at a time. I vaguely remember enjoying this as a kid. I did this for some 5th graders when I was substitute teaching one day and they had a great time with it.

Well, I came across the Twitter account, http://twitter.com/Tweet2Novel. It seems like Jeffrey is trying to play the same kind of game, but in cyberspace and on a grander scale. He hopes to get 100,000 tweets in order to complete a whole novel (I think that 100,000 is a bit much, since 100,000 words is about a 400 page book, so 100,000 tweets could be War & Peace size, or more. But still a fun idea). I was a little nostalgic for the writing games of my youth, so I played along. You can see how the story is progressing at http://tweet2novelstory.blogspot.com/. Find out how to add your own 140 characters to this work in progress at his Twitter or his blog.

Leave a comment if you decide to join in on Tweet2Novel. Also, what other writing or word games did you like as a kid? Or even now? I still don't pass up Mad Libs on a road trip...

Tina

Four Places to Go Before you Novel

What's your next big Writing Trip? Are you going to travel the The Great American Novel route? Or take the back roads of A Pretty Good Book to Share with your Friends? Whatever your ambition to fill up those empty reams, Excuse Editor has a few places you'll need to stop along your journey.
• Inspiration Station
• Start asking, "What if...?"This station is full of unique characters. Take a look around you. Pay attention. Take tidbits of your life and the lives of people you hear about and start to ask, "What if...". What if the man you see timidly walking into the grocery store is on his first trip out of his house in 20 years? What if someone recognizes the dog on the Lost Pet posting because the dog had first turned up missing from the home of a neighbor whose child had been kidnapped? Let your imagination roam through possibilities until something holds on to you.
• Follow the trail. When you get stuck in any part of the process, know that it is part of the process. All writers pass through similar dips in inspiration. Read about how other novelists come up with their ideas here.
• Writing Highway
• The journey of a thousand sentences begins with just one word. You may have taken part in National Novel Writing Month. Anything that helps to get words onto the page is necessary. Once the words start forming on the page you are on your way.
• Scheduled Maintenance. While you are writing, keep learning about the craft; read helpful books to keep you inspired and teach you how to jump over the tough spots. Take in a variety of these works-- some may not speak to you, while others may send you into finger-cramp-speed-writing-heaven.
• Roz Morris is celebrating Novelists by offering her book, Nail Your Novel, FREE! Just click and download, that's it. She has some creative ways to keep aspiring novelists from leaving their work sad and lonely in a dusty corner somewhere. Roz takes you through a planning process she believes will produce a more successful novel. Take a look!
•  Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass teaches you how to take a deeper look at your story to see if it will be successful. Now, reading his book doesn't guarantee that you will sell as many copies as one of his clients,James Patterson, but it does give you guidelines on plot, character, viewpoint you may have overlooked.
• Editing Bridge
• Crossing over. You can see your destination, but you're not quite there. You don't have to navigate that scary pass alone. Yes, the act of writing can be a lonely endeavor, but editing can be a team effort. Join a group in your town, or start your own. Find writing forums and groups on the internet. Don't be afraid of feedback, it can improve your writing, making you less susceptible to danger once you get to the other side.
• Self-Editing for Fiction Writers is a great resource to help you maneuver the Editing Bridge. You'll go back to it again and again.
• Submission Junction
• Travel Diary. You've written, rewritten, edited. You've built your Novel up and tore it down again. Finally it is ready. You want to share your hard work!
• You could self-publish. Print-on-Demand publishers are very common now. It may be enough to just know the FEEL of your own work in your hands, and have it available for friends and family.
• Or, that is just not enough for you. You want to get it published the traditional way. Take a deep breath, and dive into The Writer's Market. That is a good starting point for finding agents and publishers to query.  
• Query? That's your next step. Keep the creative momentum going for your "hook"-- those words that will jump off the page and demand that a publisher ask for your manuscript. Learn to sell yourself and your novel in a short, succinct way.
• What's a query letter?
•  Find a book about query letters, and get a feel for how they are written.

If writing a novel is on your agenda, enjoy the ride! Let me know how you avoided potholes and travel delays, and of course, I'd love to hear about any souvenirs you found along the way.