Whew! Are you like me? When Christmas and New Years
are behind me, I catch my breath, mentally turn, and step into a different
chunk of the year.
The holidays hold many distractions—fun
distractions, usually—but when we take down our old calendars and replace them
with new calendars, it’s time to refocus. We look ahead and make plans: We
remind ourselves we’ll have a couple of months of fewer hours of daylight, we’ll
have cold weather and maybe snowy roads, and we’ll focus on indoor activities.
And that brings me to this indoor activity: How are
you doing on writing your memoir?
Is this the year you’ll finalize your manuscript?
Is this the year you’ll pin down your memoir’s
title?
Is this the year your book will get its cover
design?
Is this the year you’ll publish your memoir?
Is this the year people—even strangers—will buy and
read your memoir?
Is this the year your story will change lives?
If you’re like many of us, over the holidays you
took a break from writing to spend time with family and friends, and now you need
motivation to continue authoring your story.
Are you struggling to find that motivation—that
incentive, that enthusiasm? If so, you’re not alone.
At such times, it’s easy to get distracted—because,
for many, it’s hard to get back into the writing process. It’s hard to focus.
So we fidget. We check Instagram. Send a couple of
text messages. Grab a snack, go shopping—all in an attempt to get back into our
groove.
You’ll probably identify with this Mignon McLaughlin
quote:
“There’s only one person
who needs a glass of water oftener than
a small child tucked in for the night,
and that’s a writer sitting down to write.”
Mick Silva at Higher Purpose Writers posted on
Facebook a couple of years ago: “. . . Everyone says [persistence] is the most
important part of writing. I’ve said it to all my clients: Most people don’t
finish. Even if they finish a draft, they don’t follow through with the
rewriting, or the rereading and editing. They just stop. . . .”
Refuse to let that happen to you!
Mick also offers this encouragement: “Consistent
baby steps are important for when passion wanes.”
So, persist! Remember: Even baby steps result in
progress.
And here’s a Nora Roberts quote to inspire you to
keep working:
“. . . You have to be driven. You have to have the three D’s: drive, discipline, and desire. If you’re missing any one of those three, you can have all the talent in the world, but it’s going to be really hard to get anything done,” Nora says.
Here’s my advice: Pat yourself on the back for how
far you’ve already come.
Since the clock is ticking, be intentional: Keep penning
your first draft. Don’t judge your writing at this point. Sure, you’ll have to
fix it, but you’ll tackle that later. For now, just write!
Focus. Resolve to complete your book.
Writing and publishing your memoir is not a
hobby—it’s a ministry.
You can do this! You can!
