It's no secret that writing will require a lot of you. It will require your mental energy, time and funds among many other things. If writing is so much work, how do writers ever finish anything they start?
They commit to their writing.
The “C” Word
When people hear the word “commitment,” it's not uncommon to see them cringe. No one wants responsibilities, and commitment is exactly that. In the work place it's easier to have your boss assign you to a project than it is to volunteer for it.
Why? Because if things don't go according to plan, you can subconsciously blame your boss for what went wrong. If you volunteer for it, thus committing to see the project through, you put yourself on the line.
The Risks
Committing to writing is not to be done lightly. When you commit you are telling others that you will motivate yourself to accomplish a goal – in your case writing – no matter how difficult life may get. In essence, you're setting yourself up to look even worse when things go awry than if you didn't commit. On the flip side is the fact that if you commit to a goal and follow through, people will see you as both trustworthy and capable. It's all in your hands.
Remember this above all else: commitment solidifies your goals. It's no longer an idea that you might get to someday when you have more time if nothing else is going on... maybe. Committing forces your brain to start thinking of ways to accomplish that which you have set out to do.
The Benefits
What poses a person to take such a big risk as committing to write? I mentioned one reason above – proving you are capable and trustworthy – but there are several others:
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Once you've achieved your goal you will get more satisfaction out of it, knowing that you set out to do something and accomplished it!
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It will keep you on task. One problem writers face is having too many ideas at once. I certainly recommend writing down all ideas you have, but trying to work on too many projects at once will result in none of them ever being finished. Commit to an idea and stick with it all the way through.
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It helps set priorities. Our society suffers from too many distractions fighting over our focus, but if you know you want something bad enough you'll force yourself to ignore the rest. Sure, you could watch TV if you like, but what will the end result be? Think of how good you'll feel after writing even a single scene of a novel or a stanza of a poem.
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Finally, it keeps you accountable to yourself. You know what your dreams are, but realize that no one else can make them happen. Your friends or family can certainly motivate you – and at times that is key – but you have to keep yourself moving forward. Keep the momentum going even if it's by writing one scene a day.
Today, Not Someday
In the end you just have to do it. I could go on and on about the importance of committing to your writing, but if you never do it, what was the point? You have an idea of what you'd like for the rest of your life; it's time to make it happen! Committing to writing shouldn't be seen as a scary thing to avoid. It's that extra kick in the rear to get you going, which is often all we need.
Now for the moment of truth: write down a personalized sentence addressed to yourself, committing to complete whatever you've set out to do. Make it plain that you're not playing around this time; you are going to change your future. |
