Labor Days for Writers

I've given some more thought since my last blog about finding the time to write.

Sometimes I think writers have built in excuses for not writing. Hey, I'm guilty at times. Writing isn't as easy as it appears. I know it's not easy. I believe writers know it's not easy. But there are other folks who think there's nothing much to it other than putting down a string of words.

But I digress.

I mentioned in the last blog about how I prefer to write in the mornings. I'll usually go through a mental and physical ritual of turning on the computer, fixing a pot of coffee, and doing other things before I put fingers to keyboard. It's a way I get focused on the task at hand.

You might say it's kind of like the baseball batter who goes through all sorts of things -- spitting on hands, glancing at the third-base coach, stepping into the batter's box, stepping out of the batter's box, rubbing hands again, look again at the third-base coach, step back into the batter's box, step out of the batter's box (ok, you get the idea) -- before waiting for the pitch. And then he goes through the same thing before the next pitch.

I don't believe writers need to waste time. They need to step up to the plate and start  swinging. But saying we need to have things just right, we're simply making excuses for not writing.

As hitters hit, writers should write. It shouldn't make that much difference what time of the day. Of course there are ideal times. But when we get the moment -- the right pitch -- we should be ready to take a big swing.

Until the next time...