It’s hard to believe it’s the end of April and a third of the year is already gone. It’s easy to think, what do I have to show for it? Especially when you have a big goal you set out to accomplish for the year. Even more so when you haven’t made much progress towards it. There are always things to blame. Life just got too busy. There’s too much to do, too much going on right now. I’ll get to it later. I still have time. I’ll do it tomorrow.
Sometimes you have to play tricks with yourself in order to make real progress. Because if I’m honest, there’s never a great time to sit down and write a novel. There are a million things we’re responsible for. And endless plans filling up every minute of every day. Not to mention the things we go to which consume our time, like social media and the news which can be all consuming, especially for a political thriller writer. “It’s just research,” I like to tell myself. But at some point you just have to do the work.
Sitting down for hours to work on a big goal isn’t always possible. But you can hack at it. You can cut down some of the brush today. Create the Word document. Come up with a title. Write the first sentence. Come back in an hour and close out the paragraph.
Getting started is the hardest part. But it doesn’t have to be. If you have a goal, and if you’re willing to hack away at it, little by little, you’ll soon find a clear path ahead of you.
A third of the year is gone. But two thirds are left. Let’s do something great with it. -Ken