Tina Haapala, Excuse Editor

I’m writing this on December 29, and I'm thinking about the weight we put on this time of year. Your focus these next few days may be on many “lasts,” the last cigarette (THIS is the year you will quit), the last overindulgent meals and snacks (the cleanse begins on January 1), your last morning of laziness and sloth (new workout regimen starts at 5:30AM, January 1, er, 2 nd —you really can’t expect to start anything at 5:30AM after New Year’s Eve, right?). Your writing goals may be following the New Year’s Resolution script, as well. Starting on January 1, EVERYTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT. Just like last year. You will have daily, weekly, and monthly writing goals to keep you motivated, and you will start, as soon as you wake up on that first January morning. OK, well, maybe not THAT morning. It is a holiday, after all. You deserve a little break. One day will not put you that far behind. As soon as you get home from work on January 2 nd , that will be perfect. No, you won’t wa...

Since I've become the Excuse Editor, I'm excruciatingly aware of everything that crosses my path when I should be writing. I try to stay in the creative mindset in case someone from my writing group or my fanpage  catches me engaged in suspiciously non-writing behavior: No, no. I didn't just veg in front of the TV Monday night mindlessly watching How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory and everything in between. I was studying the elements of dialogue and humor! OK, that's not entirely true. Confession time: When it comes to my writing, I'm a recovering procrastinator and excuse maker. I relapse. Often. The difference now is, I KNOW when I'm doing it. Sure, my first impulse is to some kind of rationalization (OK, it's just THESE Monday night shows, and I hardly ever see them because my writing group is every other Monday [that's true, BTW], or I know I spent 3 hours reading other people's work last night, but if I just finish THIS one book, ...