Just Because: Dirty Work

From time to time, I'll post an observation or question Just Because, which may or may not directly relate to the topic of Psychology and Fiction. Today, it does relate...

So, my family is not exactly famous for doing things normally.

Yesterday was Mother's Day in the United States and Canada (If you're keeping score, today is Mother's Day in Mexico). And while people across the land were buying flowers, taking their mothers (and wives) out for lunch, and pampering those fine ladies with chocolates, I drove my wife out to the barn to scoop poop.

Husbands, if you're seeking a unique experience for the mother of your children, you might want to jot this little gem down, and try it next year.

(You are--I trust--beginning to see why I don't write a blog on romance tips)

In my defense, we had a nice cookout beforehand, and I grilled her favorite steaks while she rested in the recliner and chatted with my mom. More importantly, there's no place my wife enjoys more than the barn. Horses are her thing. And right now, we're horse-sitting for some vacationing friends who own about forty of them.

So Mother's Day afternoon found my wife with a shovel and a pick, filling an enormous wheelbarrow with stall droppings, and wheeling it outside where Mount Poopius stands aloof, as forbidding and foul as Frodo's grim destination. Like that courageous hobbit, she trundles up the mountain with her burden--not once, but over twenty times.

When I finished filling all the water tanks, I asked for a new assignment, and got recruited to join in the "fun."

And as we're laboring at the task, somewhere around my fifth wheelbarrow I start thinking: "This is like writing."

Now, I love writing. My wife loves horses. But we both understand that in any endeavor of love, you have to muck out the stalls.

It's not glamorous. Not much fun. It's hot, and sweaty, and stinky.

But it's necessary.

What about you?

1) What part of the writing journey is like mucking out stalls, for you? (Feels like drudgery, but it's got to be done.) Or maybe you have to muck out the stalls of your life before you can even sit down to think about writing...

2) How do you motivate yourself to tackle the parts you don't relish? (Or maybe you haven't been doing them?)

Love to hear about it...