Making Time to Write: Acceptance, Not Excuses

We writers can come up with lots of excuses. Excuses not to write. Excuses for why we are too busy, too tired, too discouraged. Trust me, I’ve been whining about some of these excuses lately.

I’ve had some days where I haven’t been able to write. At all. This made me feel discouraged because I’d been on a good streak where I wrote everyday. But my husband had been in the hospital, my kids were sick and not sleeping, and I was still trying to work, cook, and write.

Sometimes I have to decide, am I accepting of my situation? Or am I making excuses.

Often I’m making excuses. But sometimes, I need to accept that today, writing isn’t going to happen—for a very legitimate reason. But there’s a big difference between accepting your situation and figuring out what you can do about it and letting excuses run amok and paralyzing you.

Instead of thinking, “I can’t because…” start thinking, “I may not be able to do ______, but I can do ______.”

Here are some examples:

Excuse:  I can’t write because I don’t have time to write with a day job and 2 small kids. 

Acceptance: I’m not going to be able to write through dinner and all day long. Maybe when they’re grown, but that won’t happen for a few years. So I need to accept the stage I’m in right now. 

Solution: I can carve 15 minutes out of my day to write something. I can work on one project, a little at a time. 

Excuse: I can’t write at all because everyone in my family has been sick.

Acceptance: It’s okay to take a break when you haven’t slept in 3 days. 

Solution: I can rest and go back to my WIP refreshed. 

Excuse: I can’t write because I’m so discouraged.

Acceptance: Discouragement is part of the process. 

Solution: I can talk to a good friend who is also a writer (because he/she will understand what I’m going through), then get back at it.

I’d also watch this episode of Super Soul Sunday where Oprah interviews Steven Pressfield. It will leave you completely encouraged! In fact, it’s earning a permanent place on my DVR because it was so helpful to me. I loved Steven Pressfield’s book and this interview was like a lightbulb moment. 

Do any of these sound familiar? These are things that I’ve been through lately.

Need some encouragement? Check out our WAITT post from this weekend, full of quotes to help you get through the tough writing times.

What have been some of your excuses? Can you accept where you are and find a solution for moving forward?