Writing A Book, Or How To Make Yourself Do Stuff

I love writing, and I think I am pretty good at it. I am efficient and know how to use words, and I can write in a variety of styles. This makes me an awesome mercenary writer because I never miss a deadline and I love a happy client.

So what is the deal with my own stuff?

It is incredibly hard to make myself sit down to write this next book, and it's not because I don't have any ideas or material. The whole book is outlined, and I am into the first part of it already. It is a compelling idea whose time has come, and I think it will be popular.

That is, if I can get past the difficulty I am having sitting down to write. It's not like I am cramming writing time in my hectic schedule (although I did just become a docent for the American Visionary Art Museum and am starting a work-study program at Baltimore Yoga Village Friday). It is pure-dee laziness.

It's loving the idea of having written the second book without having to write it. Jeez.

Apparently, along with fart jokes and rope licorice that you tie into knots over and over again before you pop it into your mouth, I will never outgrow my wicked streak of I-don't-wanna.

Crap.

*I am doing it anyway because I am a grown-up, but it's slow going, and being a grown-up is overrated IMVHO because even though you can drive and eat Pop-tarts for dinner if you want you have to pay bills, worry about eating vegetables and getting enough calcium, and think all the time about people other than yourself. But I digress.

**Oh, and also for the record, this blog was written as an active avoidance tactic in which I write a blog to convince myself that yes, I am writing my own stuff, even if it's not the book. So here's a paragraph of the book. All rights reserved. So don't steal.

"Rome wasn't built in a day, and it certainly wasn't built without tools. You could use any old tool at hand for most jobs, and some folks create beautiful things with nary a power tool in sight. Both approaches work, but in reality, the proper tool for the job makes everything go much more easily. The work is more efficient and generally easier to accomplish, and when you are learning all the other skills related to building a house or taking on another large project, if you can make it easier on yourself, more’s the better."

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