Sick and SIC

Inspiration is wonderful. It motivates, it encourages, it deepens plot, story, character.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t always come when we beckon. A couple weeks ago, I was sick. In a variety of ways. I had planned to spend the day catching up on housework and my to do list while carving out about two hours of writing time. Instead, I found myself on the couch covered in blankets sipping tea with honey. Well, I would put in my two hours of writing, and then I could accomplish at least some of my to do list.

When my two hours was up, I felt compelled to keep writing. Not that I particularly wanted to, but I knew should. I’ve barely written a thing in the past two months. What I’ve written has been mere pages a day and pretty poor stuff at that. One of my mentors called this SIC--Sit In Chair, which means sitting down and making yourself to write even when you don’t feel like it. Well, for me it was LOC--Lie On Couch, but same concept. You know what happened? Eighteen and a half pages, baby, that’s what happened! And not half bad either.

Moral of the story, sometimes, you just have to buckle down and work even if you don’t feel like it. The results may not be perfect or elegant, but they will be satisfying. Hard work usually is.