This article was shared online yesterday by a friend of mine who happens to be a newspaper editor. It really brought home a couple of things to me: one, I have been hanging on to a pipe dream for several years, and two, just as Stephen King has stated, what separates best sellers and natural talent is hard work. (Or something like that.) A major problem I noticed with the article is that she starts with procrastination, but ends with why young adults today come out of college feeling entitled. I am not entirely sure if she is addressing herself (after reading some of the other readers’ comments, I have to wonder), or if she switched gears and didn’t realize it in her effort to make word count for her deadline. At any rate, it still got me to thinking. Yes, I am a procrastinator. But I’ve always thought I procrastinated in writing because by the time I get through dealing with my paying job and household duties as wife and mom, I’m TIRED. What happens when we are tired? Well, for me, my brain and thought pattern are the first things to go. All I want by 10 p.m. is sleep! I am not one of those folks who can function on 4 to 5 hours of sleep, and that pretty much is what will be required if I stick to writing as a true job and not just a pastime. I’m not sure I have the stamina for that. Talent has very little to do with anything anymore it seems. It’s required to get you started, I suppose, but I really have become so accustomed to thinking concisely, to the point, and frequently in incomplete sentences and abbreviations, that writing a full 500 words has become quite a challenge. This post, for instance–I feel as if I have reached the babbling point and how in the world am I going to fill up the rest of the page to make the 500 word challenge (which I have failed miserably at) and still have anything worthwhile to say?
Anyway, I hope if anyone else actually reads this post and finds the link to the article that they will find some enjoyment in it.
Labyrinth, Ideas, and Wanderings 