Christmas Present

It's 11:15 p.m. on Christmas Eve and I'm about ready to call it a night. We've had Christmas dinner. We went to church. We even opened a couple of gifts. Needless to say, I am not working tomorrow.

I've had a very productive few days, working pretty much all day and most evenings on the book. My pile of research articles I've finished with is now about 14" high (see earlier post), and I'm finding that quite motivating. The first two thirds of the book is taking shape.

I'm still working on broad strokes at this point: trying to figure out how to structure chapters, what information to include and what to leave out, where to cite it in the text. I'm nowhere near finished, but I can see it taking shape. This is the point in the process where the project itself becomes the motivator. I find myself wanting to finish "one more pile" or articles, or as I started out this morning, working my way through all my articles on the health effects of hostility (do I know how to have a good time, or what??).

As great as it's been to really dive into this book, it's also time for break. Christmas is a fairly obvious time to break. But even at another time of year, taking a break from writing is usually a good idea. Remember, writing does have to fit in with the rest of your life--and that's going to be hard to do if you don't have a life.

So even on a tight deadline, I'm giving myself a little present: Christmas Day without my computer. I'm not sure what I will do with all that free time. But I'm confident I can come up with something. :-)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!