This #1 Writer's Excuse Gets Busted
By Matthew L. Hart
Writer & Humorist
Author of:
Uncle Matty's Halloween: Jokes, Bits & Anecdotes
"Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it."
"Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it."
- M. Scott Peck
We are great creative writers.
I'll prove it to you.
I'll answer this question with you:
I'll prove it to you.
I'll answer this question with you:
Why aren't we writing every day?
"I don't have the time.
I'm too tired to write.
I'm too busy."
I'm about tapped out and bored already.
You may have come up with more or less, similar, excuses.
They aren't bad but, let's be honest, they're all kind of rudimentary.
So, let's try this again.
This time, I want you to set a timer for three minutes.
I like using sand timers for this kind of thing.
Now, we write from our stream of consciousness on a new question:
Why ARE you writing every day?
I'll join you:
GO!
"I am writing every day so that my writing skills will be honed. I am becoming a Master Storyteller and as part of my training, I MUST write every day. I am writing every day to become more diciplined in my craft. I want to be able to spin compelling stories around a campfire with my family and friends. I want to tell stories that inspire people. I want to tell stories that change the world in a positive way. The only way I will be able to accomplish these things is if I write every day. I am a writer, so I write. I look forward to writing every day because I know that I will be one step closer to reaching my goal of becoming a Master Storyteller. There is no person out there just like me. By writing every day, I am expressing all that I am and contributing to the world."
TIME'S UP!
Wasn't that a lot more fun?
Looks like I had a whole lot more to write about, too.
Here's my point:
When writing becomes fun, it becomes easy.
Did you notice how uninspired our excuses were from the first question?
I believe that is because it's a negatively framed question.
I think it's much more fun to postulate on the positive.
Again, we're trying to make the writing experience something fun we want to do.
Also, did you notice I put no time constraints on us to write the answer to our first question?
We had the
"full-time cabin in the woods without
distractions" framework to answer this question
which I'm sure you also felt very opinionated about.
But, when we answered the question,
"Why aren't we writing every day?"
what did we write?
A paragraph?
Page?
A sentence?
Or, even a manuscript?
I didn't even write a paragraph!
I literally had a list of cliched excuses.
They weren't even original or fun!
Let's take a look at the first item on my list of excuses of why I am NOT writing every day:
"I don't have the time!"
Now, let's bust this #1 writer's excuse!
We do have the time.
I have the time.
You have the time.
Everyone has three minutes to write about why they would like to write every day.
There you have it.
Writer's Actionable:
Every day, after you have brushed your teeth and right before you go to bed, I want you (us) to take three minutes to write down our answer to this question: "Why am I writing every day?"
That's it.
Answer the same question every night before you go to bed.
Even if you have already worked on a writing project, I want us to continue to write the answer to this question every day before bed.
If you were to busy all day?
Still write the answer to this question and know that you have just written something for the day.
Mastering your time is the first step to mastering your daily writing routine.
Why do you want to write every day?
SHARE YOUR ANSWER WITH US
IN THE COMMENTS BELOW
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