Tonight in my wandering through my subscriptions on Google Reader I ran across Lilith Saintcrow‘s blog about Louisa May Alcott. And it hit me where I needed it.
I’ve been stuck in this rut of wanting to write but not actually doing it. I would like to make a bit of money from it as well. While we are not poor we do have credit card debt that we want gone so that we can afford things for our children. I dream of writing and selling enough to help reduce that debt. (I am enough of a realist to know that paying off the debt with my writing will take quite a while and a ton of elbow grease)
The problem with dreaming is that it doesn’t pay. It also doesn’t get the words down on paper.
Louisa May resolved to not be poor and did something about it. I am a fan of Ms. Alcott. I remember spending recesses at 9 years of age with the March sisters, Jack & Jill, and Rose & her cousins. Jo in particular is one of the reasons I dream of writing. Jo March and Anne Shirley from L. M. Montgomery‘s books.
They were young women who dreamed of writing and then pursued those dreams. I admired those characters but remain comfortable as I am. That comfort is a trap that keeps me from my dreams.
I hereby resolve to make myself uncomfortable and work harder on the pursuit of writing. And maybe find myself a poster of Louisa May to hang on the wall near my desk so I can remember and be goaded into action instead of complacency.
