A Race Against Time

“A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it's better than no inspiration at all.”

Rita Mae Brown

“...a deadline should not prevent you from writing, but writing will help prevent you from missing your deadline. Then write a word. Then remind yourself of that again. And then write another and hey, look at you! You’re spitting in that deadline’s eye.”

Courtney Summers

 I have three or four blogs I’ve already started, so why am I starting a new one?  There’s nothing wrong with the other blogs, other than they aren’t finished.  So why don’t I work on one of them?  Then I could finish early and then eat popcorn and read comic books.  That would make more sense.  Here’s why I’ve started a new blog:

1.     I’m committed to writing, as much as possible and as often as possible.  I’m also committed to spending time with my Muse.  Finally, I’m committed to our house on the beach.  What I’m not committed to is shortcuts.  Yes, I could finish one of the other blogs and end my work early, but what if I were just a few more minutes away from reaching my goal.  Would taking a shortcut help me?   Would doing less than my best serve others or me? No. My Muse needs me to do my best.

2.     I felt what I needed to do, what my Muse was telling me to do, was to start something new.  I will get back to the other blogs later…or I won’t.  My goal is not to publish; my goal is to write.  And my Muse wanted me to write on a clean page.

3.     I’m racing against time.  To be more specific, I am following a self-imposed writing schedule.  I get up between 5:00 and 6:00 every morning and write for 30 to 60 minutes.  I try to write in the afternoons for another hour.  Finally, at night, I try to write for one more hour.  The problem is that during that last hour, I get tired.  Often I start dozing.  Many nights I will lie down for “just a few minutes” and wake up two hours later.  In fact, I’m falling asleep now.  Time is not on my side.  So I’m writing fast and furiously, putting in my time, getting words on a screen, hoping that what I’m saying, what I’m writing, will help someone somewhere.  What is the lesson?  Same as always – Get Started and Keep Going…even when you’re tired.  Even a small effort can make a big difference. 

Purpose needs passion.  But more importantly, it needs time.  I have little passion or enthusiasm right now.  I just want a bowl of popcorn with hot melted butter and some comic books to read.  Then I want to go to bed.

That’s it.  That’s all I can do.  I did my best.  The length of this blog doesn’t matter.  Nor does the number of people reading it (though of course, I’d love a huge readership).  All that matters is I put in my time and I gave it my best.  Tomorrow I will Get Started and Keep Going some more.   Tonight I won in my race against time.