The Look of June: Will Work for Stickers

So. The thing about being a creative type is that it forces you to looks you to look at your shortcomings, and then, challenges you to figure out a way to make those work for you, as opposed to against you. (And to be clear, by “you”, I mean “me”). One of my shortcomings is that I have two settings – work like a fiend, and complete stop. And, given that writing a novel (as well as having a writing career) is more akin to an endurance race than a sprint, the sprinter in me often runs into trouble. Couple that with my tendency to be, ahem, rather hard on myself, and well, creative paralysis sets it.

However! If there is one thing I know how to do, it’s practice. All those hours spent in the practice room have to be useful somehow, right? So, a few months ago, I decided to use what I used to use on my students: I set up a sticker system. It looks like this:

Each of those stars means something – blue is for my run days, red is for writing 1000 words, pink is for editing, etc. The beauty of this for me is that I’m able to see how I’m spending my time, and most of all, for one who tends to think she’s inherently lazy and unable to get anything done, I’m able to see that I’m not only working, but working consistently. Before, it never felt that way, but now? The proof is in the sticker.

Because, at the end of the day, the thing that makes a writer a writer is writing. I’m writing, ergo, I am a writer, and if I need a calendar full of stickers to remind me of that, then, that’s what I’ll do.

Now, I must away, for there are stickers to earn…

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