Last night at nearly 8pm the front of the house was dark when the doorbell did its dingle-dongle. I was upstairs, busy at the computer. It might have been a neighbor (who else would call at a dark house so late in the evening?) so I descended the stairs, turned on the porch lights and opened the door.A young woman unknown to me was standing on my doorstep with a diamond stud in her nose and a clipboard in her hand.
"No," I said, shaking my head and beginning to close the door that hadn't yet made it more than halfway open.
"But I'm not selling anything --"
"I don't care," I said as politely (and firmly) as possible The door closed.
I gave her a more than decent interval to get back to the sidewalk, turned out the lights, locked the door, and went back to my computer.
I was being reasonable. It's election season. Just as I don't buy things from strangers who show up at my door, I don't discuss politics with them either.
I was saving us both time.
If I hadn't been busy at the computer I would have been busy with something else: busy playing piano, busy talking with my wife, busy reading, writing, painting, exercising, fixing, breaking, tinkering, thinking....
Do you have "spare time"?
I choose not to. I'm not all in a rush and hurry, but I've always got something to do.
There are lots of distractions in this world. I've been [I just ran 3 blocks down the street chasing a bunch of teenagers who had firecrackers and a thing for doorbells -- it's a wild night] stuck in my writing for a while now. For the last year or more I've been distracted by the need to:
- write something different enough to sell
- write something conventional enough to sell
- write something to catch an agent's eye
- get an agent
- get published
- hold my first novel in my hands
Set your own goals. Keep them in mind. Put first things first.
I've heard it said, "Write for yourself." "Write what you love." I have to admit, it doesn't work for me. I want to get published, and have been working very hard, of late, to achieve that goal. I love putting words on the page that will hopefully entertain people other than just me. I love telling a story, but I don't always love the step by step details necessary to do it well. Sometimes writing is hard, especially when you're trying to appeal to others. So, now that I think of it, I used to enjoy it much more when I was the only one to read it.
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