The First Key To Writing Success

by Bert Carson

It's 3 AM.  There is sandpaper behind my eyes.  It's not the stack of paperwork that is on my desk that is bothering me; it's that I haven't written a blog post in five days.

That means that no one will stumble over me in my rather dark corner of cyberspace, because I haven't lit so much as one candle in the last four days.

Forget about the two novels I'm working on and the third one that is 98% finished.  What kind of writer am I if I can't find time to knock out at least one 300 - 400 word blog post every other day?

You don't know, or care, about my day job.  You have your own day job and pile of work.  You read blog posts, books, and cereal boxes, to forget about your day job for a few moments.  Yet, in my self-absorbed concern over piles of paperwork, job overwhelm,  and a flawed GPS that always takes me the long way around, I've let you down.

I'll tell you what kind of writer I am.  I'm exactly like Heather, of the old dumb blonde jokes.

Do you remember Heather?  She was the sweet young thing who fervently prayed, many times every day, "Father, let me win the lottery.  Father, let me win the lottery..."

She prayed that same prayer every day for years and years without results.  And then, one beautiful spring morning, exactly like this beautiful spring morning, her prayers were interrupted by a booming voice calling her name.

"Heather, Heather, Heather..."

Sure she was about to win the lottery, her voice trembling with excitement, she managed to answer, "Yes, God, I'm here."

There was a deep sigh from somewhere above her head, followed by, "Heather, help me out here.  Buy a lottery ticket."

So while Heather is buying a lottery ticket, I've managed to find thirty-three minutes to do what I know that I have to do every day to be a successful writer - WRITE.

Thanks Heather... and thanks God... and thank you for finding this candle in the darkness.