Writer's Lab #6

Q: So tell me, Mr. Cornucopia, why you haven't written in months?

A: There are many reasons for that. Let me list them, in alphabetical order:

1. I am not disciplined. That's right, when it comes to updating my blog, I lack discipline. Since I have no external forces pressing me for deadlines and updates (except for one brother. I won't give his full name, but will only refer to him here as "James") I have to set my own deadlines to write. Which I just haven't gotten around to doing. See, in order to set deadlines and a schedule to write, I have to set a deadline as to when I will sit down and set said deadlines. And you can easily infer that spirals into a deadly combination of "not" and "done".

2. I have been very busy with work. Yes, my real job. Running the Food Magorium is my moonlighting post. My day job is some sort of insurance professional that requires credentials and a code of ethics. In order to attain said credentials I have to successfully pass a series of nine gruelling examinations covering every possible insurance and risk management topic from "Why are my rates so high" to "Why did my rates go up this year -- AGAIN!" Fortunately, I have only one exam left, but studying for that exam, plus actually working a full time job, plus commuting 35 minutes each way 5 days a week, plus sleeping, leaves me with little time to myself. And lately I have been filling my free time with reading books, when I should be writing them.

3. I need some better idea starters. My very first post introducing the writer's lab referred to a Question Jar which produced writing ideas. So far, up until now, I have followed that format. However, I really don't like to pull a question from the jar at random and feel forced to write a witty response to only that question. Some of the "thought-inspiring" questions are down-right lame. So, I have fished through them until I found one I like. Honestly, even though there are dozens of questions in that jar, I think I have exhausted all the ones I would enjoy writing to.

4. The novelty of this blog has worn off. Not to say it's not still fun. But at first, I discovered a magical new way to express my thoughts and share them with the general public (all six of you). Now that the initial magic and set up has evaporated, I am not as excited to post something new very often.

Solution?? Not sure yet. Once this exam is over, I will have more time to write. I really want to pursue it.