Not writing is easy.

All not writing involves is not putting words on a blank page and perhaps not letting twinges of guilt trouble your writer’s conscience.

Writing is a tad more difficult.

For me, writing involves getting up when it’s dark, putting on a pot of coffee, and sitting down to work for an hour or so before I head off to my day job teaching kiddos.

This past fall it became much too easy to hit the snooze button, and I found myself missing way too many morning writing sessions. (I’ve tried writing after work, but that doesn’t work for me since after seven hours with middle schoolers my brain resembles oatmeal).

One day a student at school, let’s call him Stanley, asked about the third book in my Sped Series, SummerSped, and he wanted to know when it would be done.

I knew that Stanley had read and reread my first two books and was a fan, so when he asked about the next book, I felt bad for my slacker-writer ways. I told him “I’m working on it,” but I continued to hit snooze.

The next time I saw Stanley in the hallway, he asked me again about my progress, and I said the same thing. And maybe hit snooze one less time.

I started to feel pretty badly when I would see Stanley (I may have hidden in my classroom once or twice so he wouldn’t see me in the hall), and I had no real progress to report.

The dreaded snooze button was winning!

After weeks of him asking the same question and me giving the same lame answer, I decided to use his motivation as my own.

He was motivated to read the last book in my series, and that fueled my motivation to write it.

Instead of avoiding him in the hallway now, I’ve requested that every time he sees me in the hall, he should ask whether or not I’ve written that day. I’m proud to say that since we’ve started the StanleyQuestions, I’ve only had to tell him twice that I didn’t get up in time to work.

So on these dark winter mornings when I’m tempted to snuggle back under the covers for a few more minutes of sleep, I envision having to tell Stanley that I didn’t work that morning, and it’s enough to get me writing.

What Would Stanley (like to) Do?

He’d like to read a book, so I guess I better write it. :)