9. Focus. Or lack, thereof. The amount of dirty laundry on the floor of my closet would fill the Grand Canyon. Same goes for unread email and missed calls.
8. Rigor. The seat of my comfy overstuffed writing chair no longer bothers to re-inflate to itself to original puffiness. It's probably realized by now that it won't be vacant for long, as I've quickly learned to maximize the hours of my day to full writing-capacity by eliminating unnecessary time-consuming such as: Starbucks runs, Non-work related socializing, window shopping, surfing the Internet, checking email, personal hygiene, etc.
7. Sacrifice. If anyone wants to learn about the best acoustics --based on volume of empty space-- in New England, send all correspondences to my fridge. In it, there 's a bag of celery, one expired container cottage cheese, orange juice, a 2-liter of Coca-Cola (last used: Thanksgiving 'o6), and something that looks like it used to have been a bread of some sort. Hard to tell through the green growth.
6. Awareness. I voluntarily went to the sports isle at --involuntary shudder-- Wal-Mart and bought noise reduction earmuffs to ensure maximum email/alarm clock ignoring-capacity.
5. Talent. I don't know how Stephen King or Agatha Christie do it, but there are just some scenes you don't work on past sundown.
4. Support. My parents, sister, cousins, brother(s)-in-law, Aunts, Uncles, Pets...Their love and support means the world to me. They inspire me in different ways. Every last one of them. I love my family. Even when Hannah steps on the phone. My nieces are probably driving now. I wouldn't know. Can't find my cell (See item 9).
3. Persistence. If my roommate had to positively identify me in a line-up, the cops would make each suspect turn their backs and hunch over a laptop. Not to mention the knotty-hair wigs.
2. Planning. My daily coffee consumption increases weekly and I've figured out the equation (See diagram 1) for the volume required per chapter versus the word-per-page ratio compared to typing speed equivalency of caffeine per cc.
DIAGRAM 1
And my number one writing motivator:
1. Awareness. Ninety-Nine percent of unsolicited manuscripts are rejected. But a year ago at the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta, GA, I spoke with my favorite author's editor from Harper Collins who invited me to send her the first three chapters of my manuscript. This means my manuscript is solicited, thus, increasing the chance that it's read past the first five pages. Editors and disgruntled interns alike receive upwards of forty manuscripts per month and look hastily for even the smallest of reasons to reject one, so as to make a dent in the pile of would-be best-sellers overtaking their desks. Best-case scenario: Not only does the editor remember me from Atlanta, but she recognizes my tale-weaving prowess and Fed-Exes the book deal to me, like, yesterday.
