S. J. Henderson Books
Follow S. J.!
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Formatting
  • Books
    • Young Adult >
      • Hope Creek Series >
        • Single >
          • HC: Single Playlist
        • Double
        • Triple >
          • HC: Triple Playlist
      • In the Middle
    • Middle Grade
    • Children's Books
    • Anthologies
  • Kid Authors
  • Contact
  • Appearances
  • Press
  • Store

Just Do It

7/18/2014

2 Comments

 
It sounds like the boys are going to bust through the floor of the upstairs bedroom and land in my room, in a cloud of drywall dust and splinters. I check the clock on my laptop, which I've been staring at for at least an hour trying and failing to eek out my usual 400 words per day.   

"What are they doing? It's almost midnight," I groan. "I can't concentrate with them making all of that noise."

Picture
My life. Constantly.
It's common knowledge that I struggle to write when I'm in a noisy environment, especially my house. Usually I have to hide in a room in my basement to make any serious headway on a manuscript, but it's difficult to do that when my presence is needed to maintain world peace. At a coffeehouse, the noise belongs to other people. The kids bawling their heads off and the high-pitched whir of the coffee grinder have nothing to do with me. When it's my kids screaming and boring a hole through the floorboards one body-slam at a time, well, I should probably look into that.

My husband shakes his head. "You're crazy for trying to write a book during the summer, you know that?"

Picture
Yeah, I know that. I mean, call me crazy (and he did), but I think it's not such an outlandish idea for my children to maybe, possibly, potentially adhere to a bedtime. And I'll give you a hint, it's not midnight. Lately, it's been playplayplay until they drop from sheer exhaustion. Thank goodness there's three of them, or else they'd expect me to be part of that nonsense. But I digress.

Here's the thing: I can't wait. I just can't.

To date, I've written four novels and a novella. I'm currently smack-dab in the middle of my second. And guess what? Half of my books have been written during the summer, amidst the usual craziness of kids and horses. The other books were written during November, with holidays and two ever-present children. It's not a great idea, but when I look at my options--writing when my house is empty (which never happens), leaving the house to write (also rare, plus, babysitters. Cha-ching!), writing with WWIII happening all around me, or not writing at all--there really aren't any that make sense. So I grit my teeth and press on with a small goal that keeps me in the writing game without my house crumbling to the foundation.  
Picture
Something will always be there to distract me. A more exciting opportunity will always pop its little head out of the bushes and whisper, "Psssst! C'mere! You can write later!" You all know what I'm talking about.
Picture
This guy knows what... squirrel!
It's like that quote: If I wait for conditions to be perfect, I'll get nothing done. You know the one. I'm sure you've seen it, as I have, splattered all over Facebook and Pinterest and wherever else people post that stuff.
Picture
I'm not sure what this pink forest has to do with accomplishing anything, but it was a better option than the girl running in the snow.
Unless I am willing to sleep in till noon (I am) so I can stay up till the wee-est hours of the morning (my favorite time of day, wee-est), I'll rarely wind up with a house quiet enough to let the creative wheels in my brain start, and stay, in motion. It's just not gonna happen.
Picture
Especially those blasted kids!
Isn't it the same with everything we do, or want to do? Life isn't going to bend over backwards to make sure we're able to pursue the things we're interested in. That includes our hobbies, sports or exercise, keeping up with loved ones, and basically ALL THE THINGS.  

I'll give you an example. Last July, I took up running. I don't even know why I did it, I just felt like running.
Picture
Kinda like this, except with a skoch less beard.
By the time December rolled around, I was up to six-mile runs and hooked. Well, maybe not hooked. That's kind of a strong word to use. I was running, anyway, and then the Polar Vortex came to visit and overstayed its welcome by a few months. Wind chills kept my little corner of Michigan frozen in the sub-zeros. Two days in a row, I recall running four miles in greater than -11 wind chills. Was -11 ideal running weather? Not hardly. But running was the only thing getting me out of the house and keeping me sane, so I did it anyway. Every run day, it took me half an hour to squeeze myself into 50 kajillion layers of clothing to keep my skin from falling off my body and cleats designed for running so I wouldn't pull a Bambi on the icy back roads. 
Picture
Me, without my Yaktrax.
When I look back, I don't regret a single moment I spent with chapped lips or frozen badonkadonk. Those moments proved I was stronger than I thought I was, and that I could do anything I put my mind to. 

Stars rarely align. If you're waiting for sunny and 70 degrees before you throw a saddle on that horse or lace up your running shoes, well, then you've got a good chance of sitting on the couch forever (especially in Michigan). If you're waiting for a quiet house and you've got four kids, you'll be waiting for 18 years. Longer, if your man-child is also waiting for the perfect conditions to land their dream job and move out of your basement. Like Nike has been telling us for decades, we need to "Just Do It".  


The following is a list of simple ideas I've used to help form my daily habit with writing. Maybe you're struggling with getting the ball rolling with writing as well. Or maybe you need help in other areas of your life. This list, specifically, might not help you there, but you're a smart cookie. I'm sure some of these ideas can be adapted to give you the nudge you need. If not, give me a holler. I'll go all drill sergeant on your hiney.
Six Tips For Just Doing It
  • Noise will always be there. Buy some noise-canceling headphones and drown the kids out for a few, if you have to. I don't have a suggestion for what to do when they tap you on the shoulder or tug at your pant leg, but I hear duct tape works well.  Kiddddddding! Only kidding!
  • Find a special or quiet(er) spot of the house to hide. Notify your family that they should not bother you when you are in this spot unless there is blood or zombies.
  • If your life allows for such luxury, take a little time out to visit a cafe or restaurant that won't mind you hogging a booth for an hour or four. Make sure you recreate any and all action scenes or dialogue because the other patrons love that sort of thing.
  • Set a reasonable time limit or easy-to-reach word goal (mine is 400 words. You may prefer writing for 15 minutes or some other benchmark). Then, hit your goal daily. Failure is not an option. And, in the immortal words of the Cobra Kai, "No mercy!"
  • Find an awesome friend who will hold you accountable. If you have many writer friends, you probably also have a writer friend who needs someone who will at least act enthusiastic about daily word counts. If you don't have any writer friends, make some on the Interwebs. If you're not down with making virtual friends because, after all, they aren't real people, then snag that bossy friend with the control issue. It's all good.
  • Don't forget to reward yourself when you reach a goal. It can be as small as a cup of coffee or a soak in your bathtub, or as big as a yacht or a trip to England--which, by the way, I'm tagging along on. Cheerio!


Leave a comment below sharing your best "Just Do It" tip that keeps you motivated when you just don't wanna. 
2 Comments

Home Stretch

1/5/2013

0 Comments

 
... or I'd like to think it is.

I hit 40k words just a little bit ago.  Finally.  I almost went to bed early because I've been dragging all day.  Instead, something told me that it would be a perfect night to check out the Write Or Die desktop program I bought before Christmas.

The premise of Write Or Die is that you can set goals--crazy or easy, or somewhere in between--for your writing, and if you don't hit those goals, then you are punished.  The punishments range anywhere from violins screeching in the background to words deleting themselves from the screen.  If you are idle for too long the screen fades from pink to red, which I found to be really annoying. So tonight, I managed to write about 1084 words in an hour, which is  some sort of record for me.  I'm excited about this new gadget to hopefully motivate me to get to the finish line.  I'm only 10k off now!  Yay!

And now I am falling asleep at the keyboard.  That's the price you pay for an hour of super-speed.
0 Comments

Looking Over My Shoulder

12/31/2012

0 Comments

 
2012.  I wish I could say with any sort of conviction that I'm ready to see you go.  The truth is, I'm not.  A new year brings yet another milestone that puts distance between me and a best friend lost.  Yes, milestones work in reverse....  Instead of triumphing in growing and becoming, I am painfully aware of the minutes as they tick away and disintegrate what we once had.  The holidays are a time to spend with loved ones, a time to remember loved ones departed.  I can tell you, for me, it's true.  There is an odd comfort in missing him, in remembering and letting the tears come.  The sadness means a part of him is still here.  Maybe when he crosses my mind, it is because he is thinking of me.  I realize perhaps that's a ridiculous notion, but I cling to it anyway.

Hand-in-hand with the passing of my dear horse, this has also been the year of perseverance.  For so long I thought I would never have the opportunity to have a passion other than horses, something that I could pour myself into and possibly support my family... eventually.  We should all be so lucky--to find that thing we love to do so much we would do it for free.  Last year I realized I wanted to write something, just to see if I had it in me.  As the words found their way to the page, a long-dormant part of me awakened.  Purpose.  Life.

And then I lost Moe, and, for a while, my purpose, too. 

For so many weeks--months, even--following his passing, I stared at my laptop, fingers frozen in place.  It would take me an entire day to form a few sentences, and even those lacked the spark of joy.  Still, I pressed on, knowing there was no choice.  I kept at it until I completed my second draft in October, took a week off, and dove back in to my next installment. There was no other choice.  I could never be happy with this story left in limbo, one more thing to mourn.

2012 has been a year of dramatic change in my life and in myself.  I've not figured out how to spin it all positively, because some things simply do not have  a silver lining.  But I am still here, and I'm glad you are, too. 

May 2013 be a year of restoration and blessing for us all.  I think most of us could use that.
0 Comments

Blocked

9/6/2012

0 Comments

 
This endless blank screen is paralyzing.

This silence is suffocating.

At the end of the day once again, and I haven't opened this gift.

A terrible waste.
0 Comments

Trying For Unstuck

7/18/2012

0 Comments

 
My writing had been going so well until losing Moe, my horse and best friend of 19 years. For the past several weeks I'd been making progress on the second draft of my novel, putting in 20-30 hours a week before everything crumbled around me. And now, there's nothing. The only thing I can seem to string together are old stories about time spent with my old guy. It feels like there is a dam in place somewhere deep inside of me that isn't letting anything flow unless it's about him. And it's not for lack of trying. Yesterday I sat with my latest chapter staring me in the face and I managed to add only a few sentences in as many hours. It's frustrating. Yes, I want to write about Moe and all of these things we experienced together, but I also want to finish this draft. 

A search on "grieving and writer's block" led me to this article. In the article, there was a specific quote that really resonated with me. 
Considering that a writer's creativity is part of their psychological identity, it is not surprising that what affects people as individuals, also affects them as writers.The part of me that allows me to weave tales is the part of me that is also still so much in shock with every emotion under the sun. I also read another bit in this article that makes me realize that maybe I'm in some kind of purgatory. 
Writers hurt when they can’t write. They may not realize it, but their behavior speaks volumes. Often, writers will go through a series of stages before they are ready to write again and these stages are similar to the Kübler-Ross stages of grief in psychology. In other words, when writers can’t write they grieve, so it makes sense that the stages of writer’s block would parallel the stages of grief.I am a writer; whether you consider me one or not is of no consequence to me. I know what I am, and the above quote is revealing itself to be true. It's painful not to write when you know it's one of the reasons you're here.

So if you wonder why I can't "get over it already", first of all, you don't "get it" at all. But also, I am determined to keep the words from petrifying within me and taking away my other great passion. The loss of two loves within the same week is surely more than I want to deal with now.
0 Comments

Random Thoughts On Writing For a Thursday Night

7/5/2012

0 Comments

 
Writing for an audience is oppressive.  Writing with an audience is unnerving to the point of paralysis.  I can't stand for the husband to look over and read whatever it is I'm currently working on.  Maybe it goes back to the time a few years ago when I allowed him to read something of which I was very proud, and he promptly turned to me and, in all seriousness, suggested I needed therapy.  No, you goon, that was my therapy.  Yeah, perhaps that's it.  THAT GUY officially is no longer allowed to have an opinion on or even catch an eyeful of anything I type.

To be in my personal 'writing happy place', I prefer dead quiet or music appropriate to my mood.  I do not, on the other hand, find myself to do well with constant traffic in and out of my room, door slams, running cats/barking dogs, wrestling, or video game sound effects.  It's summer vacation.  With four kids home all day every day, imagine the impact these strict parameters have on my word count.  Mmmhmm.

And what do I do when stories need to be told now or never, but they're completely separate from what I'm working so hard to complete.  First world problems, absolutely, but still new and confusing to me.
0 Comments

    S. J.

    The random things that cross my mind go here...

    Enter your email address to receive notification when new blogs are posted:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    November 2019
    December 2018
    July 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    Categories

    All
    10 Questions
    A Dance
    Adventure Quest Books
    Agents
    & A Little White Dress
    Alora: The Portal
    Amazon
    Anaiah Press
    Anthology
    Audiobook
    Audrey Kane
    Babies
    Being West Is Best
    Beta Readers
    Birth
    B L Hoffman
    Blog
    Blog Hop
    Blog Tour
    Book Blast
    Camp NaNoWriMo
    Censorship
    Characters
    Cheryl Carpinello
    Chick Lit
    Children's Book
    Childrens Book Week
    Chris Baty
    Christian
    Collected Works
    Community
    Contests
    Countdown Deal
    Cover Reveal
    Critics
    Cynthia Port
    Damnation
    Daniel 2
    Daniel The Camp Er
    Daniel The Camp-er
    Daniel The Draw Er
    Daniel The Draw-er
    Deborah McClatchey
    Dedication
    Editing
    Facebook
    Fan Art
    Fansi
    Fantasy
    Feedback
    Field Trip
    Fiona Ingram
    Free
    Free Speech
    Frozen Hearts
    GEORGE KNOWS
    Ginnie West
    Giveaway
    Goals
    Goodbye Tchaikovsky
    Goodreads
    Hearing Loss
    Holiday Adventure Book Blast
    Hope Creek
    Hope Creek Double
    Hope Creek Single
    Hope Creek Triple
    Horror
    Horses
    How To
    Inspiration
    Interview
    In The Middle
    In The Rearview
    Introduction
    Jeff Goins
    Jo Noelle
    Karma
    Kasian Publishing
    Kathleen S. Allen
    Kathryn Trattner
    Kibble Talk
    Kid Authors Project
    Kidlit
    Kids
    Kindle
    Kristin D. Van Risseghem
    Krysten Hager
    Landry In Like
    Laura Brown
    Legends Of The Timekeepers
    Library
    Liebster Award
    Lila's Choice
    Limitless Publishing
    Love
    Lucy
    Macaroni
    Maria Ann Green
    Mary DeWeber
    Max's Arabian Adventure
    Memes
    Memories
    MG
    Mglit
    Michael Thal
    Middle Grade
    Mindy Mymudes
    Mitte
    Moe
    Monique Bucheger
    Mosaic
    Mourning
    Music
    Mystery
    NA
    Names Changed To Protect The Innocent
    NaNoWriMo
    New Adult
    Newbie
    New Release
    Next Door To A Star
    No Plot No Problem
    Novel
    Novella
    Poetry
    Prime Day
    Promotion
    Publishing
    Pure Awesome
    Querying
    Quotes
    Rafflecopter
    Rebecca Lamoreaux
    Reviews
    Rita Monette
    Romance
    Sale
    Scam
    School
    Share
    Sharon Ledwith
    Short Stories
    Silliness
    Sky Writers
    Smashwords
    Sneak Peek
    Sonia Poynter
    Sons Of The Sphinx
    Soundtrack
    Spencer Kane
    Spencer Kane Adventures
    Stef Gonzaga
    Stephenie Meyer
    Story Cartel
    Support
    Tamie Dearen
    The Guardian A Sword & Stilettos
    The Incidental Inheritance
    Their Tangled Hearts
    The Last Stored
    The Legend Of Ghost Dog Island
    The Passage
    The Purple Girl
    The Search For The Stone Of Excalibur
    The Secret In Mossy Swamp
    The Work Of Others
    Thunderclap
    Time Warp
    Tommy
    Topaz Winters
    Treasure Hunt
    True Colors
    Tumblr
    Tutankhamen Speaks
    Twitter
    Ultimate Reading Quest
    Virtual Book Fair
    Welcome
    Wendy Leighton-Porter
    What I'm Working On
    When The Circus Came To Town
    Whiskers
    Winner
    Write Or Die
    Writer
    Writer Problems
    Writer's Block
    #writewemay
    Writing
    Writing Prompt
    Wyvern Lit
    YA
    Yalit
    YANA Sisterhood
    Young Adult

    RSS Feed

All Rights Reserved, S. J. Henderson 2014