Focus and Commitment

“When I stepped from hard manual work to writing, I just stepped from one kind of hard work to another.” — Sean O’Casey

This morning I glanced at my cell phone and noticed that I missed a call from someone who does not call me very often. She did not leave a message, and I wondered if I should return her call. In some ways, technology has created a lot more work for me. In the old days, when cell phones were the size of bricks, I wouldn’t know that someone had called me and decided not to leave a message. But these days, we can’t escape undetected. If I misdial a number and hang up when I realize my mistake, I can expect to hear from someone I don’t know and don’t want to talk to.

What does this have to do with writing? Everything. Writing is an exercise in avoiding distractions. Focus and commitment are the writer’s greatest tools – more important than talent, I believe, because without the discipline, talent is likely to be wasted. Focus and commitment are why I don’t return missed calls. I have better things to do, such as write blogs.