Ready, Set, Go

Today's the day. I've officially completed all tasks and obligations I used as reasons for not writing. My brother's wedding reception to attend? Check. Kids in school? Check. Finances in order (or, all bills paid on time)? Check. Nothing left but to get to it.

And to that end, I'm sitting at the library, my laptop set up on a table overlooking a lush, green park. It's very quiet here. In fact, it's so quiet, my keyboard noises seem rather annoying. No one else seems to mind, or if they do, they haven't complained.

I've decided that for at least the next few months, I'm going to come straight to the library every afternoon after dropping my youngest at school. Here I have absolutely no distractions. I'm not tempted to get up every five minutes to start a new load of laundry or to check for the mail or browse through any catalogs that arrive. I'm not enticed by the massive bag of M&Ms hiding in the closet. I've brought along a water bottle and a granola bar, so I think I can even resist the urge to visit the coffee bar in the library's lobby.

I've vowed that while I'm here, I will do nothing but write. I will not check e-mails. I will not cruise the internet, ostensibly researching facts. I will not wander up and down the stacks looking for intriguing books, nor will I read anything I've already checked out. For the next two and half hours, I will write.

I figure blogging is okay because I see it as kind of a warm up. Gets my fingers limber and the words flowing. Except, I need to avoid falling into the trap of spending an hour or more on my blog entry. If I feel the urge to be long-winded, I need to do so earlier or later. So sorry in advance if my posts are kind of un-even as far as when they are posted or if they are shorter. Not that this is a bad thing.

Anyway, as of right now, this is my job, and I'm going to treat it that way. I'm going to recall how I acted back when I received a paycheck and had bosses who expected things of me. It's going to be a lot harder because I'm now the boss, and I know that I'm pretty much a pushover as far as my employees go. They can usually talk me into calling it an early day without too much arm twisting.

By the way, I just finished reading 78 Reasons Why Your Book May Never Be Published and 14 Reasons Why It Just Might by Pat Walsh. Other than the unwieldly title, the book offers some interesting insight into the publishing world. Nothing I hadn't read elsewhere, but since it is written by an editor who doesn't pull any punches when it comes to delivering the bad news, I think it's a good dose of reality served up fairly easy to swallow. Check it out if you get a chance.