Don't prolong the torture

Isn't it funny how we put things off, thinking they will be time consuming and difficult? Over a year ago, I signed up for a writing course through Long Ridge Writer's group. I loved it. I learned so much and moved quickly through the assignments.

As time went on, the assignments became longer and a bit more intricate. Then, last fall, WiDo Publishing bought my novel. Everything in my life picked up speed and I took a leave of absence from my writing course so I could get through Christmas with one less thing on my plate.

I knew my leave of absence was ending soon and I dreaded it. I knew these next few assignments (and I mean only a very few until I'm done) felt overwhelming to me with everything else I have to do.

Well, I have this two month break right now while I wait for my editor to go over my latest revisions. It would be the perfect time to get those assignments done. Still I procrastinated, doing ANYTHING else.

Finally, Long Ridge sent me an email this week telling me my time was up, which I already knew. I forced myself to sit down and complete the assignment I'd already started last fall. It was SO easy. What was I so stressed about? With everything I've learned up until now, the assignment was a breeze. Here's what it was. Write a scene, create a one page synopsis about what I want the rest of the story to be, pick a magazine I'd send it to if I wanted to really publish it, and then fax it to the school. Here's the funny part. I'd already written the entire (short) story last fall! All I had to do was clean it up, and write the summary. That is two assignments done right there.

Here I'd spent all winter dreading this and it literally took me less than a hour to complete. My word, the things we do to torture ourselves.

Here is the moral to the story. Nothing is as bad as it looks. Things don't always take longer than we think and most of the time, it's not as hard as we envision it to be. Remember that, and get to work!