What's your excuse (reason)?

You want to write a book, but you have a busy life, family, kids, a full-time job, maybe even two jobs. Writing is definitely not an easy task, and let’s face it, sometimes a quiet moment to concentrate on your story is nearly impossible to come by.

There are some people who call this, ‘excuses’. I’m not going to do that. As a full time worker, a home school teacher, and a mother of four, including two disabled children, I could never assume that a reason for lack of time is by any means, an excuse.  However, sometimes, those ‘reasons’ tend to get in the way of productivity. 

So how do we find time when there is non to spare? There are ways.

The notion of writing a novel, or even poetry, can often be confused with the romantics who visualise a tormented soul in the basement by candlelight, pouring out his heart and soul, spilling words on to the paper, setting aside all menial tasks for arts’ sake.  The reality is, we have now personal computers that not only remove out mistakes, they also spell check, and can even read your words back to you without the embarrassment of having a real audience finding all the grammatical errors you missed yourself. That’s time saved. Think of it as an assistant who is happy to save your work and even count your words for you. This was once a manual task.

With children running around our feet needing attention, diaper changes, meals cooked, words taught, and endless cuddles, who has the time to write a book? If you are a parent, the trick is to make time even if that time is forced and short. Have an appointment? Leave early and take an hour or half an hour to complete a chapter. Picking up the kids from school? Arrive early and take your laptop. Leave the internet off, keep your phone nearby for emergencies, and use your time to write.

Write one sentence or one paragraph a day, for one hour, that’s a book written in a matter of months.

How you see limitations and setbacks can steer your potential success and dull your creativity.  It’s important to, not only practise your craft, but nurture it and make time for it, otherwise, like all things, it will not grow.

Allow me to introduce you to someone; William Russell.  William is 71 years old. He is blind and multiply disabled. He came to Limelight to publish his new poetry title, called Roselyn X.  Born in Victoria, Australia. He served in the Royal Australian Navy during the 1960s and 1970’s. An Aboriginal writer, his poetry and short stories are drawn from his unusual and varied life and travels, and from his heritage. His poetry (and a few short stories) have been a part of education curricula from primary to tertiary level in more than a dozen countries around the world for over the past thirty-odd years.

When I conversed with William, each time I received an email, I became more and more aware of the limitations he faced in getting his work to print.  But the thing is, William did not see it that way at all.  Never once did I hear a complaint.  Never once was William confused about any process or instruction.  Never once did William explain how challenging it was, not being able to see his own work and having to rely on others, few and far between because he lives in a remote location, to tell him his book looked great. William simply pressed on.

Despite not being able to see, William’s vision was clearer than most authors I’ve met.

William, who could once see his children and the love of his life, could now only see what his mind projected and, at times, I have wondered if I would be as strong, focused, and enthusiastic about a realized dream, as William was. Honestly, I doubt it.

William had no limits because he chooses to see past his challenges for the purpose of creating something he can be proud of, something worthwhile, time consuming, yet precious. The question is, can you?

Here are 83 excuses that have been used in history, not to write.