Here are five reasons why you almost didn’t get a post from me today.
The list is specific to the day I’m writing this, but the feelings behind it are universal.
5 Reasons Why I Almost Didn't Write Today
Reason 5: The Resistance
If you’re not familiar with the Resistance and its relationship to creative work, Steven Pressfield has written an engaging book on the topic. Next time you’re terrified to sit down and write and are looking for a good excuse to put it off for a few more hours, I suggest you pick up The War of Art.
Reason 4: It’s cloudy, and the light in my apartment is dim.
Say what you will about the nebulous nature of “perfect writing conditions,” but whatever they are, they aren’t this. At least, not for me. When it’s dark and stormy, all I want is a fuzzy blanket, a hot coffee, and a good book. (To be fair, that’s all I ever want.)
Reason 3: I have e-mails to answer, dishes to wash, fan blades to dust, and laundry to fold.
(See: The Resistance.)
Reason 2: Technically, nobody said I had to write today.
Most writers are our own bosses. Consider how you feel about your boss on a bad day, and you can imagine the inner turmoil this dynamic sparks. If anything is ever going to get done, we have to be the ones telling ourselves that yes, we really do have to write again today.
Reason 1: Writing is hard.
So, so hard.
To quote our sweet Westley, anyone who tells you differently is selling something.
And yet writers keep showing up.
Why?
Because they know the readers will show up, too.
I have a complicated relationship with deadlines.
While I find them extremely good motivators, I also find them cruel and relentless taskmasters that make me want to quit writing and go live in a treehouse with a pet squirrel named Scooter.
I’ll say one thing for working on deadline, though.
It helps me get things done.
Especially the longer stuff.