Writers Running From Success

Tomorrow is the last day you have to get anything done in the month of August. September is arriving. Did you get all your good intentions completed for August? If you don't set goals, both short term and long, you might be the reason why you aren't where you want to be in your writing career.

You want to know how to run from success? Don't set goals. Don't set deadlines to complete your projects. In other words, procrastinate. Why reach for success when you can merely dream about it? Did you know that one of the reasons why some writers never achieve their dreams is because they place 'road out ahead' signs and block their way?

"Well, I'm not that good in grammar or spelling..." ROAD OUT AHEAD

"I can't find the time to write, I'm so busy with other things..." ROAD OUT AHEAD

"My writing isn't as good as Mrs. Big Famous Author..." ROAD OUT AHEAD

I'll let you in a little secret. I am a born again procrastinator. What's that mean? It means I was the president of procrastinators and then I realized a few years ago that my life was marching forward full steam ahead even if I accomplished nothing. If I spend hours playing Majongg (LOVE that game!) or surfing the Internet reading the news (I'm a news junkie) then I've filled valuable 'could have reached for a dream' hours with mundane, non important things. Things that won't change my life or someone else's. Will stand in the way like a road out sign.

I made the determination that I would never let a day go by without writing something that moves me closer to my goal.

Now I'm going to get real personal. I'm so determined to keep that goal and grab my dream (hitting the New York Times Best Seller list) that I've written in the bathroom at almost 3 AM in the morning, so bleary eyed I could barely see the notebook I had in hand. But the day had been filled with things I had to take care of and that 3 AM time was all I had left. I've written when I was so heartbroken I thought I would pass out from the pain. I've written when I was sure the only thing I could excel at writing was a grocery list.

Next week will come and go. So will next month. And the month after that. Then it will be a new year. A new decade. Where will you be with your writing then?