Why I'm not writing....

A long time ago (I believe it was Winter 2007), I printed out a comic to inspire me to "finish" my book. It was a comic (or is it a cartoon?) by Debbie Ridpath Ohi (who I have admired since she ran that great writing site -- inkspot). I found the cartoon at www.inkygirl.com, and it was a perfect inspiration. It was a snowman typing and declaring to finish the novel before spring if it was the last thing.... OH, just go see it.

The timing was perfect.

I was writing my thesis for my master's degree, and I had to finish by spring. My thesis was a memoir titled "Fat Man's Daughter," and I had to have about 30,000 words.

I printed out the comic and hung it up in my office as motivation.

Spring came. My thesis was done. I defended it in June, and I officially graduated in August.

I kept the comic hanging in my office because I hoped to turn the 30,000 words into about 80,000 words (or at least 60,000), so I would have a memoir worth publishing.

I have not done a word count in a very long time. But needless to say, I have not finished the book, and spring 2008 has passed, and I am looking at spring 2009.

I brought the printed out version of the comic with me when I moved offices from Kirtland to Ferris. I need the inspiration to keep writing. I need to get back in the groove and blog at Fatmansdaughter.com as well as generate that rough material and work on polishing it. Without a deadline, however, I am finding it hard to write.

One big block for me has been physical -- or actually it is mental having to do with my physical.... (how is that for confusing?). The memoir is about weight issues, in particular how they relate to parenting and being a kid of an overweight parent. And I'm overweight.

I had lost 40 pounds and was holding steady. Recently, within the last month or so, I gained back 10. I want to lose, at minimum, another 40 pounds, but at this point, I would be happy just to be losing something rather than maintaining.

By not writing about my weight and weight issues, I have allowed myself to slacken off on my own weight loss goals. I need to remotivate myself as both a writer and a dieter.

I think the only way I'm going to get it done is to schedule my writing time.

What has worked for you?