by Peter Leavell, @PeterLeavell

If you were to make a hierarchy of important things in a person’s life, where would you put writing a life-changing novel compared to watching the telly? 

Hovering with wings on one shoulder, dressed in white and wearing a golden circlet, a figure whispers, “Be the change you want to make happen. Write the book for your fellow man.”

On the other shoulder, clad in red and black and emitting an alarming heat signature, a tiny demon says, “Don’t underestimate how tired you are this morning. Rest. And the television show isn’t going to watch itself.”

It’s easy to voice to your fans that writing a novel is important, even more important than Season 3,422. Yet, we dedicate ourselves to watching actors on a screen. Why?

• The appeal and ease of television versus the delayed gratification of writing speaks to basic desires of entertainment: lowest personal output for highest return. 
• Fear of failure at doing the hard thing draws us to the easy.
• Fatigue causes us to pull toward unhealthy resting habits.

So, how do we reverse personal trends and flip the time we spend watching television to productivity and learning?

• Change access to stuff. Put the remotes in the refrigerator, set the TV up in a distant room, and delete apps. Place a novel on the coffee table. Print an academic article and shove it in the cereal box for breakfast reading. Put War and Peace beside the toilet. 
• Find passion. What you tell yourself, you believe. Is the novel more important than entertainment? Vocalize it. Pretend you’re paid to encourage a writing group to overcome obstacles, then speak aloud your encouragement—now, get to work. Constantly remind yourself of the people who need the message your heart throbs to tell.
• Hang out with real people. Walk in nature. Read an article about art. Or read out loud an article while walking with someone on a nature path. We need variety daily, and the mind craves activity and human interaction. People, nature, and art ignite our imaginations and bring light to our spiritual purpose. Blinds closed in a musty interior lit by a screen perpetuates the voice with the superheated breath. 
• Sleep. Care for the body’s needs in a healthy manner. Let me repeat. A healthy manner. This is where the two figures on your shoulders are battling for dominance. Be as healthy as your genetics allow.

Put writing back on top of your hierarchy list with these tips, and you’ll find yourself creating healthy habits! And disregarding the voice with the steamy hot breath and listening to the minty fresh-breath figure on the opposite shoulder. 

Happy writing!

Dino Hunters: Discovery in the Desert

Siblings Josh and Abby Hunter don’t believe their parents’ death was an accident. After taking pictures of the most incredible find of the 1920’s—proof humans and dinosaurs lived together in the same time and place—desperate outlaws armed with tommy guns are on their tail! Only Josh and Abby know where the proof is hidden—in the canyons of Arizona’s desert. When an intruder searches Josh and Abby’s bags inside their new home, the two convince their uncle Dr. David Hunter to return to the canyon and find the pictures they’d hidden. But the outlaws are just as eager to find the proof before Josh and Abby. Can Josh use his super-smart brain to outfox the villains in time? Will Abby’s incredible physical abilities stop full-grown men? And will their uncle believe them?
Dino Hunters is an apologetics-adventure series aimed at the middle reader to help them trust the Bible from the very first verse.