that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown

favourite Christmas movie ever? No, but it's up there with It's A Wonderful Life and The Polar Express. I like my Christmas movies, okay? I like my Christmas.

So I thought I'd post for the first time in, oh god, over a month, since it's Christmas and I'm actually somewhat relaxed at the moment. I'm not going to write some cheesy post about what Christmas means to me, but I want to write something. 

How Do I Keep Writing When I'm Bloated All The Time And Starbucks Is Closed?

This is a serious question I ask myself every holiday season, and here are a few nuggets of wisdom I've picked up in my very short time on this Earth.

Let's be honest with ourselves here: are we really as busy today as we claim to be? well, you might be, I dunno, you guys are grown ups. I'm sixteen, I'm just sitting on a couch with nothing to do until my dad and I go Starbucks hunting.

Yes, up until Christmas, we are pretty busy. Almost all of my parents' Christmas shopping was done yesterday (I got mine done early, hee hee, so I could still buy all the nice wrapping). But once the real holidays come around- once you've bought the presents and cooked the turkey- we usually have a surprising amount of time to relax. That can be part of the reason we don't want to write- it's work! You're on vacation! Your New Year's resolution is to write more anyway, you still have a few days of rest ahead.

The problem with this line of thinking is the part where you group 'writing' with 'work'. Because here's the one truth about writing that I've learned: if you're going to do it, you have to love it. And you probably do; we all know that feeling of satisfaction when we come up with the perfect plot twist, or when we write a really heart-pounding climax, or when we read over our own writing and think 'that's actually not half-bad.' But people tend to have this problem of thinking that our hobbies and work have to be separate. "I have to make time to write." "I have to fit this into my schedule." "I need to squeeze some 'me' time in with all this writing."

Tip #1: If you don't want to write, don't make excuses. You're allowed to not be in the mood.

Tip #2: If you do want to write, it doesn't have to be work. You can just do it for fun. Like I will. Right now.

And on that... incoherent less-than-classy unprofessional pointless note, Merry Christmas, and to all a good night!