Back to the Basics

I have had the privilege of presenting at a couple schools over the course of the last month, and these author visits have left me re-energized for writing and creating stories.  You know the old saying...out of the mouths' of babes? One never can predict what kids will ask at any given moment (and I certainly had a few fun and silly questions), but one that continued to pop up time and again was, "What made you want to start writing?"

I found myself giving my standard responses of, "I've wanted to write for as long as I can remember...I've been writing for as long as I remember...my love of books and reading made me want to write stories kids would love and want to read over and over"....and so on and so forth.  And all of this is true! However, the wonderful questions, attentive and focused kids (and teachers) and genuine little faces that really cared about my response truly made me think about what really was at the root of it all...and that is a plain old love for books and stories and writing.  I love to read.  I love to lose myself in a good story.  I REALLY do want to motivate kids to want to read. And I LOVE to do so with my own writing.

Lately, however, I seem to be floundering in managing my time well enough to write as often as I should or want.  I know...same story, different day!  It is difficult to balance it all.  We all know that.  The challenge is to prioritize and stick to it. 

I really started thinking about this a few months ago when I completed Picture Book Idea Month.  I was generating ideas for picture books each day, some of which I've actually fully developed into manuscripts in various stages of completion.  It really lit a fire within me to get back to the basics of sitting down, butt-in-chair (or butt-in-bed, butt-on-sofa, you get the idea), and just writing.  Stay away from the computer, don't stress about marketing and promoting and such, but just write or edit a WIP.  So, that is my goal in the next few months.  I hope to finish and submit the three PBs I have in the various stages of the editing process and then work on something new from my stack of PiBoWriMo ideas.

How about you? Do you ever want to just go back to the writing and leave the rest behind for a bit? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

For now, happy writing!