Top 10 Excuses for *Not* Writing

  1. I don’t have time.
  2. I’m too busy.
  3. I’m too tired.
  4. I have a pressing need to rearrange my bookshelves.
  5. My husband/kids/pets/neighbours are making so much noise I can’t concentrate.
  6. It’s so quiet I can’t concentrate.
  7. I’m not feeling creative today.
  8. My deadline is still ages away.
  9. I need to clean the house.
  10. I’m a horrible writer with absolutely no talent and I’ll never get published anyway because all the editors are illiterate morons who only publish their friends and I’ll probably end up alone, unloved and unpublished, living in a cardboard box under a bridge with nothing but newspapers to keep me warm.

Hmmm… Maybe this needs to be a top 20 list…

  1. My computer crashed.
  2. There’s something good on TV.
  3. I’m at a very exciting point in the book I’m reading.
  4. I need to alphabetize my pantry.
  5. It’s too beautiful outside to be stuck inside at the computer.
  6. It’s so rainy and gray outside that it’s too depressing to write.
  7. I got my 463rd rejection in the mail today.
  8. I need to bake something.
  9. My lucky writing sweater is in the wash.
  10. I don’t even own a lucky writing sweater.

Come to think of it, maybe this should really be a top 30 list…

  1. My characters are annoying me.
  2. My plot is stupid.
  3. It’s too early in the day.
  4. It’s too late in the day.
  5. I’ll do it tomorrow instead.
  6. I need to do just a little bit more research before I can write any more.
  7. It’s so cold I can’t concentrate.
  8. It’s so hot I can’t concentrate.
  9. I need to read just one more book on the craft of writing before I can write even one more word.
  10. It won’t hurt to skip just one day.

Or maybe this should be a top 40 list… And if I keep writing this list for long enough, I won’t have to do any “real” writing today…