Stop Worrying and Start Writing

It's all too easy to worry about all the other things you "should" be doing instead of writing, or to worry that your freelance submission won't be good enough or that your books won't sell.

But what I learnt recently is that there's an answer to all this. Not only that, but the answer was here all along. And even more than that, you've always known the answer, whether you admit it or not.

I read a book by Dale Carnegie called "Stop Worrying and Start Living." It's a fascinating book, and he says that the easy cure for worrying less and living more fully is hard work. Being busy and productive not only helps to take your mind off your worries, but you'll feel better for achieving more.

- Hard work is the cure for worry.

- Boredom leads to worry and depression.

- Learn to love your job, or at least parts of it.

- Keep active mentally and physically.

- Do your best and ignore everyone.

- Accept what can't be changed.

- The devil finds work for idle hands.

All this is why I find writing to be the cure for all this.

When I'm writing, my mind is completely locked into the present moment. When I'm concentrating on my writing it's impossible for me to think about anything else.

Writing, especially when I'm working on a big project, is an escape from reality.

I find it to be a form of therapy.

Writing really is the way to stop worrying and start living, plus it's productive and profitable.

MISSION CRITICAL FOR LIFE

Start Living Life On Your Terms By Pursuing Your True Life Mission

https://cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/MCFL.html 

No Excuses Allowed

Me in my new orange T-shirt

The weekend before last, Dean and I travelled into the city to attend a (biological) women's rights rally. You can see me at the rally in the photo. I'm wearing my new orange Sally Grover T-shirt, and Dean is beside me. (He's behind the man in the white hat. You can only just see Dean in his sunglasses.)

The rally was on Sunday morning so we caught the train the day before and stayed in a hotel in the city overnight.

We really enjoyed the rally. It was fascinating, with some amazing speakers like Sally Grover from the now-famous Giggle V Tickle court case and Senator Malcolm Roberts. And hundreds of people attended, both men and women. 

But during the weekend I began to feel ill.

On Saturday afternoon I had a bit of a headache. That night I slept badly because my head hurt and my nose became awfully blocked.

The next day, by the end of the rally, I felt exhausted. We went and had a picnic in a park and then headed to Central Station to catch a train home.

By the time we arrived home it was after 5 o'clock. We had dinner, showers and an early night. But the next day I felt worse. I joked that I'd caught 'Brisbane germs.' I spent a couple of hours asleep on the couch that afternoon. I still felt exhausted.

The feeling of illness persisted the rest of the week and was dragging me down both physically and mentally. But I was part-way through editing my novel, Magenta, so I worked on that every day. And what I found was that even though I didn't feel like doing it, I still sat down and did it, and once I started I was soon absorbed in my work.

By the end of the week I realised that working on my book was like therapy.

It took my mind off how rotten I felt, and, as it usually does, when I'm deep into writing I forget all about reality. My mind was completely inside the story, and even stopping to blow my nose repeatedly didn't deter me from my mission to get the edit finished. Which I did, so now I only have to do one more run through it, and I'm done. 

But what the whole experience taught me is that there really is no excuse for not writing. So unless I'm bedridden, I can write.

Even times when things have upset me, I can always get lost in my writing and take myself away from my troubles for a while.

It really is that easy.

So no more excuses.

I'm just going to write.

Coming soon...

The Big Mistake Most Writers Make About Consistency

Consistency is a word that comes up often when people talk about writing. We're told that it's all about consistency, which means showing up every day and writing for a set number of hours or words.

I always believed that was true, yet I constantly struggled to maintain the discipline of a daily writing streak. Then I read something that blew that belief away and not only makes way more sense, but also makes building a writing habit so much easier.

This is the quote that I read: 

"In theory, consistency is about being disciplined, determined, and unwavering. 

In practice, consistency is about being adaptable. Don't have much time? Scale it down. Don't have much energy? Do the easy version. Find different ways to show up depending on the circumstances. Let your habits change shape to meet the demands of the day. 

Adaptability is the way of consistency."

~ James Clear

Once I read that, it became so obvious how wrong the belief is that consistency means strictly keeping to a daily set number of hours or words. I mean, sure, it may work for some people, but it doesn't work for me.

Life gets in the way of my plans all the time, making it hard to stick to a rigid target.

And I was looking at it the wrong way.

Consistency doesn't mean adhering to a strict schedule. It simply means turning up every day, which is pretty much what I do. Some days I work more than other days, and some days I don't do much at all.

Just the other day I was feeling guilty because I'd slept badly the night before and felt tired all day. I had a meeting with someone that morning, which was scheduled for 2 hours but took an hour longer than expected, and then Dean and I had to go and buy a few things we needed for the work we're doing on our house at the moment.

By the time we got home, took everything out of the car, had lunch and did the dishes, it was late afternoon, and I was exhausted and almost fell asleep as soon as I sat down. So no writing got done. I just looked over a few things, made a few notes, checked my emails, and left it at that.

At first, I felt disappointed, but then I realised there's no point in stressing about it. I usually aim for a minimum of 2 hours of writing every day, but days like the previously mentioned one don't leave mental or physical room for 2 hours of focused work. Most days I do manage it easily - often I do more.

The reason I aim for a minimum of 2 hours writing every day is because that's all it takes to be a prolific writer.

But I also need to be adaptable to whatever life throws at me. 

So for me, as James Clear said, consistency means showing up every day, no matter what or for how long.

That way I can keep writing fun, because if it's not fun, it's not sustainable.

Goodbye Writer's Block

How to Be a Creative Genius and Have an Abundance of Ideas Plus the Inspiration and Motivation to Write
https://cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/WB.html

How to Handle Writing Saboteurs

Have you noticed that whenever you commit to a big writing project, an unending stream of disruptions starts to happen?

It seems like everything and everyone in your life wants to sabotage you.

And it can be anything - a spouse who needs your attention, kids getting ill, friends dropping round, an old habit tempting you, or your own desire to quit and go and do something easier.

Whatever it is, the more you commit to a goal, the more resistance you'll get.

Why?

No one knows. 

It's one of the mysteries of life.

So what can you do about it?

There's nothing you can do except get comfortable with it and keep working towards your goal.

Deal with the saboteurs as quickly and efficiently as you can. 

Don't ignore things. 

Deal with them. 

If a friend knocks at the door, answer it and tell them you're busy and you'll catch up when you've finished. Don't ignore the door, or they'll come back and keep knocking. 

And don't ignore your writing. Keep going and work on it every day as much as you can. Even two minutes a day is better than missing a day.

If you let these things drag you away from your goal, then you need to ask yourself if you really were committed to it.

How about committing to the challenge of writing 12 books in a year?

Even if you don't make it, you'll have achieved so much.

The 12 Month Writing Challenge
Write and Publish 12 Books in a Year

https://cheritonhousepublishing.com/books/12MTH.html