Every weekend, I make to-do lists for each of the next seven days. I am a list-maker. I can’t help it. I get great satisfaction when I get to check an item off my list as “done.”

Some tasks on my list appear every single day. Some pertain to daily habits for my health, some pertain to social media, some are book marketing, some of writing, some are categorized as “household.” There is even a “decluttering” category.

Unfortunately, I haven’t checked anything off my decluttering list in several weeks. That section of my list is like a black cloud hanging over my head. Until I feel the urgency in checking those items off, they will continue to just be moved to the next day and then to the next week.

It is the “writing” category on my to-do list that worries me the most. If I don’t finish the first draft of my historical novel, I will suffer with guilt feelings. I want to finish it, get it published, and move on to the next book. I have told people I’m writing a novel. They’re getting tired of asking me, “How’s your novel coming? When are you going to finish writing your novel?”  

I enjoy writing, and I enjoy doing the research to back up my historical fiction writing. Where am I getting this wrong? Why can’t I finish writing that book?

I subscribe to Janice Hardy’s Fiction University Narrative Nuggets email. I trust her writing recommendations. She makes things easy to understand. Of course, the problem lies in putting them into practice.

Her “Narrative Nuggets” on Tuesday hit me between the eyes. She addressed the fact that all writers have slumps. We all hit a wall. We all get discouraged. We all get stuck. We all beat ourselves up when this happens; however, Janice Hardy said on Tuesday that “we” might not be the problem. The problem might lie in our process.

Most writers who write or speak about their writing process tell us that we must write every day. Some tell us that we should treat our writing as a job, putting ourselves on a daily 8 to 5 schedule with a lunch break, if we must.

That does not work for me. For one thing, at my age, I no longer want to maintain an 8 to 5 workday schedule. For another thing, chronic fatigue syndrome and other health issues have completely wrecked my circadian clock. Since I rarely go to sleep before 3:00 a.m., it would be useless for me to sit down at my computer at 8:00 a.m. sharp and expect to write anything worth reading.

Janice Hardy gave me permission to stop feeling guilty for not following someone else’s writing schedule. She said I need to find what works for me.

I’ve read that before, but it really resonated with me this time.

Ms. Hardy wrote:

“Do you swear you’ll write every day, then only produce on weekends? Maybe you’re a binge writer who needs longer stretches full of sprints, not daily sessions.”

Thank you, Janice Hardy! Thank you for taking away the guilt I feel when I move “Write Scene 48 – Sarah meets Betty Jackson” from today’s to-do list to tomorrow’s and even to next week’s list.

Ms. Hardy nailed it! I am a binge writer, and it’s high time for me to admit it, accept it, and go forward with it!

I hope you have a good book to read. If you are a writer, I hope you have learned what your writing process is so you don’t have to feel guilty for not following someone else’s schedule.

Janet

The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.