I attempt to motivate students to write all week long. It requires high energy.
I sweat.
I sip iced coffee to sustain me as I defend the semicolon. I stretch out and cool down in between lessons on sentence variation and mood.
I push my hair out of my face, catch my breath, and make wild gestures to remind them to eliminate weak verbs.
I detest weak verbs. They waste my time, people.
Finally, after I've left it all on the field that is the classroom, I offer my last piece of inspiration:
Just start.
None of this matters unless you start. You have to start.
Isn't that how anything ever happens? You start? You just start?
So just start.
I don't care if it's one single measly word (but not a weak verb), just write.
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I applied my motivational speech to myself as I stood before my bathroom with my cleaning bucket in hand. You just have to start, and soon, you've cleaned your bathroom. Spring is a great time to start.
