Writing Worry #8: I'm not dedicated enough

Over the last few months, I've been making a concerted effort to blog more regularly about writing in addition to my hiking adventures. The goal of this web site was to start building my online presence. With only two books to peddle, this blog is more about keeping myself focused on my goal of becoming a published author and continuing to foster my love of writing.

It's been all that I can do to keep the pace of on blog post a week. Life just gets busy between work, commuting, pets, significant other, exercising and enjoying the great outdoors. Because I work at a desk all day, my desire to return to the screen for the 1-2 hours a night of free time I have is pretty low. Sometimes all I want to do is watch a little TV or a movie with my guy.

So what about the writing? Don't get me wrong, the above rant isn't an excuse for not writing -in April I only sat down a handful of times to work on Spar. It isn't a matter of excuses for not writing. I just wonder about my level of dedication to my stated goal.

I'm under no illusions of impending success. I just love to write. Establishing characters and weaving plots are wonderfully creative activities. They are also challenging and mentally stimulation. Creating is living. Plus, there's the internal enjoyment I get at developing my thoughts and the accomplishment of taking a novel to completion.

So why am I not writing every night? I guess it's a matter of prioritizing. Spring is giving way to summer and I'd rather be outside hiking, climbing and cycling. The words aren't going anywhere. I was reminded by Mur Lafferty's 'I Should Be Writing' podcast this week that publishing is a long process, so there is no reason to rush the writing process. It will happen when my motivation to write gets to a certain threshold or the opportunity to get it done arises.