“I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more luck I have.”
I always loved that quote. Turns out it’s not from Thomas Jefferson, even though it seems to always be credited to him, and seems to have first appeared in the 1940s.
But it’s true.
Often people are surprised at all the projects I have going — keeping a law practice, having novels published, running an international game, working in politics, writing two blogs — and ask how I find time for all of these things.
Well, I don’t know. I just do them. Often these same people tell me about all the great TV shows, video games, and movies I am missing, and while they are right, that’s just a choice I have made. I’d rather spend my time working on these other projects.
And it’s not like these things are hard work. I really like doing all these things or I wouldn’t do them.
I’m not trying to tell anyone how to have fun in their life. You do what makes you happy — that’s what life is all about.
But I know people who could write great novels or accomplish other great things, but they just don’t do it. They start a project and never finish.
Yeah, there really is work involved.
ventrellaquest.com 
I have found that more than work is focus. Many people don’t have the ability to dedicate/discipline themselves to work on long reaching projects. I believe the game designer Steven Long once said that people create and run RPG’s because they don’t have the discipline to make a greater work – such as a novel.
I don’t know if it’s a product of the ‘have it now’ generation – where meals are done in under 5 minutes and other such progressive items. I, myself, have a half dozen novels that I’ve written a dozen chapters on and just stopped due to… laziness? Loss of inspiration and/or interest? Not sure.
I have found that outside motivation helps a great deal. And not just a friend bothering you to get a chapter a week done but something much more tangible.
I’ve been toying with the idea of running a $500 kickstater with my friends. If they get it up to $500, I’ll finish a book in 6 months, giving them all the rough draft for their input, and then a free copy of the book once it’s published.
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Well, I agree and will say that I think “focusing” IS work. 🙂
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