By D. A. Watt
My first word spoken was, “No.” This is pretty typical, just like “Mamma” or “Dada” or, for the genius babies out there, something random like, “Tortilla.”
I’m all grown up now, and am no longer limited by a toddler’s vocabulary. Like you, I am a writer. Writers get high on stringing together words, many words. Right?
Why then is this itty-bitty two letter word becoming more difficult for me to say? Seriously, I act as if a gang of time robbers are pointing their Uzi’s at me. Do you do this, too?
A time robber with hound dog’s eyes and a tennis tan asks, “Trudy is sick (or worse, she died) can you fill in, it’s just for a month or two?” I step back, hands raised, “Yeah, yeah, of course.”
A time robber in a business suit gushes, “We need your help editing the newsletter. Plus you’ve such an eye for lay-out and design. It’s for a good cause.” She smiles. I gulp.
Sometimes I walk into a time robber ambush. Like when my hubby, the Godfather of time robbers, wants me to sit with him to watch a movie I like, too. Or when one of my kids needs a ride to a friend’s house to finish a big school project due tomorrow (that’s a 40 minute roundtrip times two).
Or how about:
- My son's 2 1/2 hour baseball game
- My Daughter's dance rehearsal
At home:
- laundry flaps me off
- dinner moves me to tears
- toilets belch unknown objects
All the time:
- The cell phone beeps and tweets without permission or intermission
- Emails…texts!
- The internet clamors: follow this link, take a peek…Oops
- I'm Facebooked, Googled and Windowed to the ninth degree
- Yahoo…LinkedIn…blogging AGAIN.
Wait! Don’t pop that Prozac; take a deep breath, and count to ten. Now, let it out, real slow.
Focus. Unite with me and shout our new battle cry, “No.” Say it out loud, stand firm. Shake a fist for emphasis.
“No,” is your new best friend.
I urge you, fellow author; be brave, fight to write, and exercise your “No” often.
We’d love to hear what happens when you do, especially any clever methods you’ve discovered to introduce your new friend.
