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“All writing is difficult. The most you can hope for is a day when it goes reasonably easily. Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block, and doctors don’t get doctor’s block; why should writers be the only profession that gives a special name to the difficulty of working, and then expects sympathy for it?”  

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–Philip Pullman

I came across this quote this morning while I was searching for a motivational quote to post to my Savvy boot camp team W.O.W. (stands for Wordsmithing Other Worlds). While this was not the zippy, quick witted one-liner I was going for to spark us into action, this one struck a resonant chord with the writer in me. Today is Day 7 of the June Savvy Boot Camp, and after 6 days of writing, I am staring square at being 11,726 words short of the weekly goal I’d set for myself during this process. To say I’m disappointed is an understatment–I am quite unhappy with myself.  So I felt the need to craft a little Note to Self:

There are no excuses, I am 100% to blame for my own productivity.  My daily goals are very doable–I’ve learned to temper my excitement and set attainable goals over the last 2 years.  As long as I am DEDICATED and exert some SELF-CONTROL, I can make my daily word count goals.  Yes, it is a bit high at over 3k a day, but the purpose of the boot camp is to push yourself hard for a short amount of time to see what you can accomplish.  At least, this is the goal of the boot camp for me.  So unless I get my butt in gear, I’ll be doing me a big disservice.

See, I’m not really all that concerned with finishing an entire draft in this month (although trust me, I want to), I’m more concerned with showing me–specifically the part of me that doubts and second guesses every step I take, every word I write and my dream of having a  spot in the literary world as a published author– what I could accomplish with concentrated effort, dedication and prioritization. Like I said, my daily goal is a bit of stretch, and I know that some days will be better than others in that other priorities will sometimes trump my writing for the day.  Looking back on the past 6 days, I can honestly say this is not the case, I’ve just not put in the effort I’ve been needing to.  I’ve had one really stellar day–hit over 6k that day–but I’ve also have 1 day in which I didn’t write one thing, and several days where I hovered around mediocrity with a average of about 1,200 words.

So today, I’m getting serious about my efforts this month because I owe it to myself to see what I can really do.  I owe it to myself, and no one else, to see (1) what I can really do if I push myself a little and treat my efforts with the respect it demands and (2) see if I can meet the goal I set forth for myself for the month of June.  I’m tired of setting goals, then giving myself the okay to not reach them because the kids were a distraction or I was busy at work or I was  tired or I just didn’t feel like it…

It’s early and I have a full day ahead me (I’m in a very busy season with my day job and my kids will be back home today after spending a week with the grandparents).  While it is not likely I will hit the 11,726 mark needed to go into week 2 flush on my word count goal, I will surely give my writing the effort and respect it deserves today as I try to break through this mark.

I will update this post, and my word meter with today’s progress before I head to bed tonight.

**Update: Word Count from 6.7.10–2,129**