Thought for the day: CREEP

I finally discovered the writer’s worst enemy: Creep. Cheryl’s unofficial definition? Life’s insidious encroachment onto the writer’s zone.

Heather Sellers introduced me to the concept in her book Chapter after Chapter. (Great writing inspiration book, BTW. If you haven’t read it—do!) In it, she writes:

…most people, especially on their first book, struggle with a terrible insidious mental weed called Creep. If you don’t surround yourself with your book, you risk it creeping away from you—or you unintentionally creeping away from it. Creep is bad, and it’s as common as the common cold.

Keeping up writing momentum can be tough, especially for those who have other jobs (you know, raising kids, making sure the house passes minimum health standards; plus whatever you do to bring in cash.) Somehow, the rest of life tends to…well…creep into writing time and energy. Since writing time can be somewhat flexible, I find that it gets pushed aside too often for things like doctor appointments, editing jobs, even (horror) laundry.

So what’s a writer to do? Must we succumb to the inevitability of entropy as applied to the writing life? ;) Nah. My point is—be aware of Creep. Identify it when it begins, nip it ASAP, and set some ground rules to counter its effects. Learn to keep writing a priority. Practice saying “no” to inessentials. And most important, when life creeps into writing time, pay yourself back the lost hours.

Let’s root out Creep!

~Cheryl