10. The IRS told me I owe $20,000 in back taxes on my 2007 tax return. (I'm not even sure I made that much in 2007.)
9. I've been obsessed with acquiring Internet "real estate."
8. Kathy and I went to the Smoky Mountains.
7. John and Julie came to Chicago.
6. The longer you're away, the harder it is to come back. (Which I presume is why Professor Moon told me to "write every day." He also told me to move to California and camp out on the doorstep of Zoetrope Studios. And not to drop in at his house unannounced.)
5. I had laundry to do.
4. Nothing to write about.
3. So many things to write about I couldn't pick one.
2. It was easier not to.
1. All of the above.
What about you? Why don't you write?
I've been to counseling many times...for career counseling, for marriage counseling, for "relationship" counseling, for (mild) depression, because my dog won't heel...it always comes down to the same thing...I'm a "writer" who doesn't always write.
I thought starting a blog would give me the impetus to write something -- anything! -- at least once a week or so. Having that kind of self-imposed (albeit nonpaying) deadline seemed to work for me a few years ago when I committed to writing commentaries for the local NPR affiliate. But that was different...I committed to going into the radio station and recording a commentary every other week--and it WAS a definite commitment. If I didn't show the night before my segment was to air, they had a minute-and-a-half of dead air on "Morning Edition" the next morning. So that was good for me. I think. Blogging hasn't turned out to be the same kind of "hard stop" I seem to need.
On the other hand (and not listed in my Top Ten List), I have been hard at work writing and editing motivational/inspirational books as part of a new venture with my long-time friend and now business partner, Michael McMillan. I have no doubt it will be a successful venture, and it does involve quite a bit of writing and editing. But even so...I seem to be kicking myself for not writing the things I REALLY want to write, and (secondarily) for not attending to my blog.
So again...I could use some help...in the form of commiseration or whatever form you care to offer up...what about you? If you are a writer who doesn't write, what's your excuse? And what do you do to forgive yourself so you can sleep at night? Or if you have some other avocation that you tend not to fulfill, what keeps you from it? Or, better yet, if you are writer who DOES write, (or a sculptor who sculpts, a painter who paints, a poet who poses, etc.), please share the secret of your success.
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I think people who make things, whether the things are stories, origami sculture, or whatever, make exactly what they were supposed to in the time allotted.
ReplyDeleteVery zen-like (zennish?) of you. Thanks, Stephen.
ReplyDeletePatience, Grasshopper. Seriously, it feels strange saying this to someone who, when I first read samples of his work, I thought, THAT'S the kind of stuff I wish I could write: Putting words on paper is at least one destiny of yours, perhaps among many, even if excuses keep getting in the way.
ReplyDeleteI have turned thinking about what I want to write into a kind of art form in itself. As a result, my imaginary glass cabinets are full or airy Pulitzer's and American Book Awards (Imaginary Category). All the time I could be devoting to writing I spend learning to play the guitar.
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