Tina Haapala, Excuse Editor

We're all works under construction “Live fearlessly!” Sounds great, doesn’t it? Until you actually try living that way. Your common sense gets in the way— Well, I must be scared of some things, like driving too fast or stray dogs, right? Or you basically fear what living fearlessly might LOOK like: What will they think of me if I shake my ass in Zumba? These kinds of debates have been playing themselves out in my head for the past year, as I’ve been working on my memoir. Can I "Write Fearlessly?" I felt great in the beginning. I’d discovered a way to work, a type of flexible outlining Brook Warner calls “ scaffolding ” that seemed to set me out in the right direction—yes, direction! I suddenly had one. Great! On to writing. I knew the story. I mapped out the scenes. But, I suppose it is similar to the Cheryl Strayed’s Wild journey—we both knew we were a bit out of our element, but until we run splat into obstacles, we didn’t know how scary it would be.

I have checked out almost every book in my local library that has to do with the craft of writing. Some of them twice. When book shopping, a splurge will include at least one that has to do with writing, editing, or marketing. When I started Excuse Editor, I was afraid that focusing on the negative aspects of the writing process may be a turn-off, and not many people would be interested in what I had to say. After all, I do believe that focusing on anything brings energy to it, so why would we want to do that when it comes to things like Writer's Block? Because if we ignore it, it's not going to go away. Unstuck, by Jane Anne Staw, PhD, provides a path for working through your writing obstacles with compassion. That was the biggest difference I noticed with Ms. Staw's advice--it didn't sting, well, not too much at least. Imagine if you had a Jillian from Biggest Loser as your writing coach. Sure you may get there, but you are a hurting, exhausted, sweaty mess...

We're all guilty: We've put off our writing because of more "pressing" matters. After all, if we don't get done with X, we wouldn't be able to concentrate on our writing anyway. It's better to have our minds clear. So, we'll sit right down and start writing as soon as X is done, and of course Y, and, while we're at it, might as well finish Z... ZZZ. The next thing you know, you're wiped out from all of your non-writing tasks, and there's nothing left for your writing. You rationalize: It couldn't be helped, I had stuff to do... Excuse Editor's Tip: Instead of making excuses for not writing, make writing your excuse. Of course there are things that really must get done. I'm not advocating locking yourself in a room and leaving your responsibilities totally behind. I don't want to get emails from "writing widows" missing their significant others. However, if you've been struggling to get to your writing be...

From the desk of the Excuse Editor: First, I decided I wanted to write. That was easy enough. I'd kept a diary since I was a little girl. As a grown up, I attended a few journaling, fiction and poetry workshops. Great, my interest was peaked, my pen desperate to start moving. But, what kinds of writing should I start with? How long should it be? My workshops focused on self-expression, and I was rightly told: write whatever you want to, write what's in your heart, write what's on your mind. Write until it's done. OK. I agree. But... What if I want to share my writing? ...if I want to get published? ...and of course, what if I want to make some money? I started to research writing markets and writing contests. Sure, I could focus on writing the Great American Novel and send it off to Oprah and hope for the best. Or Ellen. Or maybe I could get the "Colbert Bump". Instead, I kept my head out of the clouds and put my butt in the chair. Using the...