If you are you might as well give up. It is one sure fire way to doom your novel. It’s also an excuse I have used many times over the past five years, which is probably one of the reasons it has taken me so long to finish.

I decided to write a series on things that will put an abrupt halt to your writing career. I chose waiting for inspiration first as it is arguable. It makes sense, at least to the reasonable mind of a person who doesn’t write for a living or ever aspire to become a published author.

Some writers don’t write unless they feel inspired. They think that they are wasting their time by pushing forward through the mental block that is stifling their creativity. Their argument is that they are bound to make more errors and have to go back and do significant revisions so why bother. These writers are better known as aspiring authors or the unpublished.  Many don’t complete their masterpiece because they are waiting for something that may never come. Think of writing as a job. You can’t call in every other day and say I’m not working today, I just don’t feel inspired. You could but it wouldn’t go over very well and that would be the end of that job. You get the picture?

Sometimes we have to push ourselves even when we don’t feel like it. In most cases the results are positive and once we get going things just flow. Published Writers/Authors have the mindset that you work on your craft everyday. They set quotas based on amount of time or number of words.

Remember the more you write the better you will be at it. Writing everyday also helps you to develop a writers mindset. If you are concerned about ruining your story by writing without inspiration you could always leave your story alone and work on something else until the creative juices start flowing. Just write.

I can relate to those of you who procrastinate and make excuses. Some days it is a true battle of the mind. Thank goodness for my accountability partner.

Hope this was of help to someone reading.  Please let me know what you think and follow me by pressing the follow button in the right lower corner of this blog. I would love to hear from you.

-Jan R