It became Thursday when I wasn’t looking, and I’m so confused that I will destroy it before I understand it. There is no room for change in my domain. Let it be Wednesday forever.

Or, fine, we can do the next Weekly Motivational.

I’ve talked a lot about a few dozen reasons or excuses that can crop up and prevent a person writing on a given day. I’ve talked about inspiration. I’ve made silly jokes and drawn wild correlations between things that I probably should not have.

So I’m going to go a bit broad this week and tell myself to just shut the hell up.

Stop giving candyass excuses. You want to write, or paint, or sculpt, or make earwax boobytraps, but you don’t want to put in the time to GET GOOD. Then you’re just a disappointment. Not to anyone else.

No no no. You don’t owe anybody a thing in the world and truthfully, everyone expects you to stop. To quit. To make excuses. To just go back to watching TV, playing video games, reading a book, raising your children, going back to your day job without complaint.

But why are you doing whatever creative thing you do? Is it to just pass the time, or is it because you enjoy it, or is it going to drive you insane if you don’t? Or is it because you want to do it for a living. Do you want to support yourself and your loved ones on the blood, sweat, and tears of your creative endeavor? Do you want the world to see you as not just another desk jockey, not just another electrician, not just another homemaker?

I expect the answer to most of those questions is “fucking of course, you jerk”. Well you can drop the attitude. I don’t know why you’re getting upset.

Disclaimer: I am in no way suggesting that those professions I mentioned are somehow less than a creative job. They are noble, necessary, useful careers and I love every single person who does a job. You’re all killing it! Keep at it!

But what I’m saying is that if you want to do something else, but you keep making excuses not to do it, then you’re not disappointing anyone but yourself. You’re not failing anybody but you. No one else expects you to succeed. Most people don’t accomplish their goals.

Until this year, I have been a sometimes succeeder. After this year, perhaps I’ll go back to it. But I will go back to not madly chasing my creative goals with the knowledge that I’m not making excuses about why I’m not writing when I could be. Or not submitting novels when I could be.

I will write the hell on, and if you truly want to create, you will work beyond the excuses and get the work done.