I recently watched the movie Knight and Day. I especially liked the thought that expressed by the character named Roy Miller: "Someday is a dangerous word."
When many people hear that I am working on my first novel, I often hear the same response. " I would love to write a novel someday. But if you are anything like me, you sometimes push your writing to the side because your to do list is piling up. It only takes a short time to realize that the to do list never gets shorter. When one thing gets checked off another has taken its place. Someday can quickly become never.
This holiday season I approached my to do list with amazing vigor. I wanted to get everything done so that the new year could focus on my WIP that has been gathering a little too much dust. I hemmed my drapes, I hung pictures, I cleared the boxes out of the guest room, installed the area rug and new chandelier in the dining room, and I painted the bathroom, man cave, and dining room. I even decorated for Christmas. The outlook for the new year was looking great.
Two days after Christmas I realize when hanging my plate rack I drilled into a drain pipe. My beautiful antique leather walls went from looking like this:
To looking like this.
So it was back to the home improvement store. Patching pipes and walls, and repainting.... Then the same day the washing machine died, then a week later it was my printer. My to do list was regrowing at a quick rate. But it was a great reminder, that we can't find extra time for our writing. It will never happen. There will always be other things that we could use to justify into putting off our WIP (especially when you have written your characters into a situation you haven't figured out how they are getting out of). However, you and I both know- although, some of us may need reminded- that you make time for writing because it is important to you; it keeps you sane.
Don't fall into the someday trap.
You deserve to live your someday today.
