I have two elementary school age children. They come home every night and I have to make them do their homework. They hate homework. It is a battle to get it done. I can’t blame them, I hate homework too. I even hate making them do theirs. It’s absolutely no fun. Especially when there are so many other wonderful things we could be doing. It is hard to sit down after a long day at school and do more work, but it is necessary. As a parent I know that the homework is important and my wife and I both sit down with the kids and make sure that it gets done.
It doesn’t take a huge leap of reasoning to apply that to my writing work. I have a very intense job, the last thing I want to do when I get home is do more work. Even writing a story, which is something I love doing, is sometimes the last thing I want to work on. Now put an un-enjoyable assignment in front of me, like editing, or writing a synopsis and I, like my kids, look longingly towards the television, or the Wii, or a paperback, or writing down a short story. I have to apply the same discipline to myself as I enforce on the children. I must do my homework. My homework right now is to research agents to send my queries off to. I have found this task nearly as onerous as long division. So while my kids sit at the dining room table scribbling down answers on worksheets I am sitting next to them reading agent bios on my laptop. None of us are particularly happy about it but it is important it gets done.
That being said, I have to get back to work.
Tchuss
Lystra
Thanks for the perspective, Lys. I needed to be reminded of this as well.
I’m happy you’re doing your homework!
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