1/31/11

Excuses Put You In Reverse (The Driving Chronicles, Part 1)

Okay, so you may or may not know that I'm 19 years old.
You also may or may not know that I can't drive. Legally. And in real life.
I have lots of reasons why I do not have my license. (I drive a standard. I live in an area where if you want to go anywhere, you have to go 60mph. My hand/eye coordination has always been horrendous. Did I mention that I drive a standard?)

But, as I am realizing, I have to drive. It's not really an option, not really something you get a choice about (unless you're a multi-millionaire and can afford a chauffeur). You have to drive. And, to drive, you have to have your license. To have your license, you have to be comfortable going 60mph on a standard. (Or, I do.)

When I decided to write the Ivolet book, I swore up and down that this was the one. I was going to finish it, edit it, revise it, edit it, and query it. No matter what.

There's been lots of opportunities for excuses. Let me rephrase that: There have been lots of excuses. It's too long! I don't care about this story anymore! Princess stories aren't trending! The plot is never going to be tied up tightly! I will die if I keep working on this book!

But, in the end, the excuses didn't matter. In a sense, I guess I had a choice about it. But I had promised myself that I did not have a choice about it. I was going to finish it. I was going to do a good job, a great job. I was going to query it.

In the end, you can't listen to the excuses anymore. Yeah, they may be valid. Life would be so much easier if I didn't have to learn on a standard, but I don't have one. And I have to drive.

If you've promised yourself that you would write that book, write it. Be done with the excuses! You can listen to them as long as you want, but they won't get you anywhere. You'll wake up, nineteen years old and without a driver's license. The excuses will only hold you back, and I know that you have the power to overcome them!

What's your excuse? How much longer are you going to let it define your success? 

2 comments:

JE said...

So, did you finish it? Here's to wonderful success when you do!!

I don't let anything stop me. I write, write, write, and write until my fingers are numb. No excuses here. ;-)

~JD

Alex said...

But hey, think of it this way: once you learn how to drive via standard, the regular, automatic driving will be a breeze. =)