No Time To Waste

Yes, it's been more than two weeks since my last post. In fact, I think my buddy Matt might have left this sight off his newly reformatted blog thinking I had given up on it! Just kidding, Matt! I've been working close to 50 hours a week for the past three weeks now, and it's gotten me down and burned out.

All three of you who are reading my page have probably noticed that I've edited my page's subtitle. Yes, I am on medication. I wasn't for a few months, but circumstances are overwhelming me at the moment. So my therapist, my doctor and I are in agreement that I needed to go back on an antidepressant until things settle down. On one hand, being on medication still seems taboo - like I'm some sort of basket case - but I also realize that many people have dealt with these types of problems behind closed doors until just in the past ten years or so. Plus, if you talk to enough people about your "issues" you find that more people are on medication than you might think. Plus, letting all this stress and anxiety get to me has more than likely been a major contributor to the ulcer that has formed in my belly.

Today's title is courtesy of my supervisor at work. In an effort to motivate us, this quote was used. We were told that we should walk with a purpose, no matter what it is, and that we have no time to waste. I don't want to go on a whole work tirade - (a) because it's way too long to go on about and (b) because I know of cases where employees have gotten fired for complaining about their jobs in their blogs. However, I will say that I've decided to use this motivation more in my personal life than in my work life. I indeed have no time to waste in my writing. I have no time to waste in getting published.

I've also been reading The Writer's Market Companion. It's been quite helpful for me. I've particularly enjoyed some of the quotes and stories from authors. Such as this one from Dorothy Boone Kennedy that was particularly eye-opening: "I lacked time and energy. Then I read that a person writing two pages a day could write a book in one year. Anybody, I reasoned, no matter how tired, could write two pages a day. At the end of the year, I had the novel written and the first publisher I sent it to bought it." Kennedy is the author of Portrait of Debec from 1972, and she said this in the April 1994 issue of Writer's Digest. I realize that some of her story might not work today, such as the luck of having your book bought by the first publisher you send it to, but her point is well-taken. So, my new goal is to take it two, three, four maybe five pages at a time.

And as an aside, I just have to say that my dog is a maniac! She's part collie, part German shepherd, part chow, but she's all lunatic! I'll have to post a pic of her eventually so all three of you can see just how adorable she is.