I broke down and got a trial subscription to Ancestry.com today. Probably not the wisest move I've ever made to forward my writing, but once I saw they had records on my grandfather, but I couldn't access them without paying, I had to do it. (And that's how they suck you in, the dirty bastards.)
Know what? It's really addictive. I spent most of the day researching my family and then my husband's family and then my daughter's father's family. I told myself I could research during the time I wouldn't be writing anyway, and in return, I would write. No writing tonight and no playing tomorrow - that was my trade off.
It wasn't exactly fair, since I only did 570 words, but still, it worked. I didn't want to stop researching - there's so much more to learn - but I made myself close the programs and write. And that's a start. Consider it my carrot for sitting here when I would rather be sleeping.
What kinds of carrots do you use when you don't feel like writing? Or are you disciplined enough that you don't need carrots? I really need to get there, but until I have an agent, the impetus just doesn't seem to be handy for that kind of dedication.
(And yes, I realize that I might have the whole thing backwards. I had the drive once upon a time. Now I just need the carrot again.)
It seems every carrot I dangle, I end up either ignoring or not caring if I get it - yeah, I'm in that boat of writing right now! Like you said, the agent thing would be the best carrot, but right now it's a big old road block.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the commercials on ancestry.com - way cool. Good luck with the research - and the carrot :)
That looks like such a fun website. My carrots are basically the lure of getting some query requests...someday! It lights a fire under my bum and gets me closer to the finished draft.
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