Getting into the Writing Mood

©2007 ©2010 Mary Anne Hahn

How often do you sit down at your keyboard, stare at the screen, and
think, “I’m just not in the mood to write today?”  Or maybe you
don’t admit that to yourself, but instead use the time you’ve set
aside to check your e-mail, read about the latest celebrity or political
scandal, or play solitaire (Spider Solitaire is my personal current favorite)
…until you realize your writing time has evaporated and you need to be
somewhere else.

If you’re either smiling or grimacing in recognition of this
scenario, you’re not alone.  Sometimes it is joyously easy for us
writers to write.  But at other times, maybe even most of the time,
it’s—well, it’s work.

And if you’re freelancing, there’s no boss (other than you) to set
your goals and deadlines, no one giving you annual performance
appraisals, no one disciplining you when you fail to measure up.
You might get the occasional question from a friend or relative
(“Have you written anything new lately?” or “Are you still
writing?”), but that’s hardly life-threatening.  You might
experience a twinge of guilt or remorse.  Maybe you even lie and
say, “Yeah, of course I’m still writing.”  But the truth is, you
haven’t been in the mood, and you and your conscience know it.

What is it about writing, especially for us part-time or aspiring
freelancers, that leads us to believe we can let ourselves off the
hook so easily?  On the one hand, we claim that’s what we want to do
and be more than anything in the world—to write, to be a writer.
Yet, is that really true?  If so, why aren’t we making time to write
every single day?  Even when—-especially when-—we’re not in the mood?

Here’s what I think.  Other than the fact that we’re postponing our
own writing goals and dreams, which should be important enough in
themselves, there are really no immediate consequences to putting off
our stints at the keyboard. If we simply stopped showing up at our
day jobs just because we weren’t in the mood, we’d lose it.  If we
stopped preparing meals for our children because we just didn’t feel like cooking,
someone would eventually notify Social Services.  But if we go a day, a week,
heck, even a year without writing,  who besides ourselves would care?

We need to start looking at our writing goals much the same way we
do any other obligation in our lives, as something that must, not
should, be done.  Like arriving to work on time or doing the laundry
regularly, we need to schedule our writing time and just do it,
regardless of the mood we’re in.  Why?  Because, unlike doing
laundry or showing up at your day job, sticking with your writing
and getting published brings the most extraordinary sense of
accomplishment and fulfillment—-something we can point at and
say, “Look, I did that!”  And it’s a feeling we can recreate many
times over, the more we devote ourselves to our writing.

So if, like me, you really, really, really want to be a writer,
this is what I want you to do—join me, and commit to writing for a
minimum of 15 minutes a day, or one hour and forty five minutes a
week.  Minimum.  It doesn’t matter what you write, or how many
words, at least not at first.  Just make it a part of your daily
routine, like taking a shower or brushing your teeth.  I think
you’ll find the time spent writing even more invigorating and
refreshing.
P.S. If you’ve been struggling with the dreaded writer’s block,
I’ve found a way you can eliminate it, once and for all…

http://budurl.com/blockCD