Woot! I’m participating in my first ever Paper Hangover Friday Fives! This week’s topic:
1. Pressure. I’m one of those weirdos who lives for pressure. I thrive on deadlines. If I don’t have a hard and fast end date looming over me, I will languish in 25-words-a-week hell and wonder three years later why I haven’t yet finished my book. Sometimes I set artificial deadlines for myself, and sometimes I’m working under very strict deadlines. Either way, it’s the only way I’ll reach the end.
2. Competition. No, not against other people. I’m talking about competition against myself. Call me crazy, but I like it when that little voice inside of me that screams “You suck! You will never make it!” comes out. When that happens, I switch into a mode where I’m all GAME ON, MOFO, and the words pour out of me in an effort to prove to myself that I CAN do this. Sometimes this is easy, but sometimes it’s harder than I could imagine. That’s why I also need…
3. Support. I am blessed to be married to someone who believes in me 100%, someone who picks me up when I’m down, gives me a pep talk and pushes me back into the ring. I am also blessed to have a wonderfully supportive critique group who tells me when I’m growing and who (gently) steers me back on track when I’ve wandered free. And then it’s GAME ON, MOFO.
4. Distraction. I have a tendency to be a little … um, what’s a nice way of putting this? … obsessive? If I’m working under a strict deadline set by someone else, I will live, sleep, eat, breathe my manuscript. It’s ok, you can say it, I know it’s unhealthy. That’s why I need plenty of nights out, good books and cheesy awesome gymnastics shows to keep me in line.
5. Wine. What? I’m just being honest.
What about you? What do you absolutely have to have when you’re writing?
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