Nitwit of the Day #2

You have to wonder about some parents. Cheerleading moms, soccer dads, and now a father who spies on a rival team so his son can score more passing yards. Yeah, that should impress any college who might have wanted to recruit his son.

What are you teaching your children? Do you teach them respect for rules and respect for others, or do you teach them that getting ahead at any cost is the right way to go? What about with your writing? Do you teach them to respect your dreams, your creative process by setting rules about interrupting you during your writing time? Or do you drop everything at the first whine and go do what they want?

I think it was Nora Roberts who said if it didn't involve blood, she didn't want to hear about it until the writing was done. (Don't quote me on that) But at some point, your kids have to learn that while they matter, so do you. You have goals, dreams, and a need to create. Yes, you love them, yes you want them to succeed, but they should return those same feelings to you.

Forget scouting the other team. Forget what everyone else is writing (yes, it sounds so much more brilliant than your idea. So what?) Forget that people are selling all around you and you're still waiting. Forget that you haven't heard diddly squat from the editor who's had your manuscript for over a year, or from the agent who's had a partial for 18 months. They don't matter! What matters is getting the words on the page, training your muse to be there when you sit down to write, and finishing that book. What matters is you.