Monday, February 09, 2009

What am I willing to give up

i have been thinking about writing a lot lately. just what it means to me and what i am willing to do for it. this morning i recalled what heather sellers who wrote Chapter after Chapter,said about finishing a novel. you are going to need to give something up to finish. now just what am i willing to give up to finish a book. to think that in my current life i wouldn't need to give anything up is being naive. to truly come up with a good list i need to take a look at what i spend my time doing

here's my list

1. TV
2. weaving
3. spinning
4. limit time on the phone,
5. Art
6. blogging
7. reading blogs
8. reading books
9. email
10.book groups, classes

now some of these I would be willing to give up for a certain duration but others i would have to consider limiting the time spent on them. Of all these i most likely can not give up art or blogging but i could reduce the time spent on their activities.

i made the decision last night to start revising the first novel i wrote for nanowrimo, its a mystery set at a fiber festival in the world of weavers and spinners. its the closest thing i have to completion so its time for a second draft. i also committed to working on it every day, the amount of time doesn't matter just as long as i am working on it. the one thing that nanowrimo teaches is to consistently write everyday. its time i got back to that.

what are you willing to give up to make your dreams come true...

1 comment:

Olivia said...

I wish you the best with this, Kate. Just to start a discussion, I wonder if this is true? Do we really need to give up something? In my case, I DO need to give up excessive TV and I am willing to. But in addition, I need to GET something (which will create more time), which is more energy. I'm working on that, too.

I think the main thing is that we need to create time and space to do what it is we love to do, however we do this.

I think it is also good to ask, "How badly do I want it?" and if I am trying to force myself to do something, am I really in love with the process itself? (I am asking myself this about writing, in fact.) Do I need to write? If so, what? Do I need to share my writings with the world? If so, how? Is blogging what I truly love or is it book writing? (This last question is a hard one for me.)

Just some thoughts,

Peace and love, O