Just Keep Going…
Another six days have passed since my last blog, and I am starting to feel guilty about the slowdown in the frequency of my writing sessions. There are reasons of course – there always are – in this case, they revolve around caring for sick family members and pursuing an especially intriguing employment opportunity. Valid reasons, no question. But they still pull me away from the writing desk.
Regardless of the validity of the reasons for writing less often, it is distressing to me to see the momentum built up by knocking out one third of my novel start to dwindle. However, you have to choose the actions that have the highest priority based on your values, and then be okay with that. Whenever I get into this sort of position I remember something that John Grisham wrote in his introduction to "A Time To Kill", his first novel. This introduction appeared in the paperback edition published three years after 'Kill' first came out, and after "The Firm" had made him a household name.
"I approached the writing of this book much like a hobby, an hour here and an hour there, with a somewhat disciplined effort to write at least one page a day. I never abandoned it. I remember one four-week period where nothing was written. I occasionally skipped a day, but for the most part I plowed ahead with blind diligence."
-Introduction to "A Time to Kill", by John Grisham, ©1989, Island Books edition published 1992
It wound up taking three years for Grisham to complete the manuscript for "A Time to Kill". I've read the book, and several more of his, and liked it a lot. Based on his sales history, I am not alone in this assessment. For my part, I take great comfort from the deliberate, drawn-out process Grisham went through in completing this work, and how by just keeping at it, he was able to launch a career that is now much better known as a novelist rather than a lawyer.
So the message is to just keep going. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. And never give up.
Read something today that makes you want to write something of your own! Thanks for reading. -Jon
