Writing Difficulties

I've been struggling to do what I love for the past few months so naturally I've been wondering....what the hell is the problem?  I love the handful of stories I've been juggling and the stories' characters.  Friends and Twitter friends I've bounced my thoughts and ideas off of think that I've got some great stories.  Not writing makes me unhappy.  So why can't I WRITE my stories?  I mean I've been writing every day of my life since forever.  I still plan on going to college to better my craft and I still intend on seeing my books on the romance shelves in Borders stores someday.  So what the hell is the problem?  Over the past few days I've gotten a mild grasp on at least part of it. 

I'm losing my motivation.  Why?  Because I'm still writing for myself.  I want to share my stories, but there isn't anyone demanding them.  So I have no pressure to hit my daily word count goal.  Since I'm a Plotter and not a Pantser, I already know my stories.  Spending hours sitting on my butt typing is starting to appeal to me less and less as the sun shines.  Yes....I'm weak....you are too so don't be so judgmental. 

Published authors have agents and readers awaiting their next book.  Right now, I'm still writing for me.  I don't even have a critique group to snap that whip.  And it's a large part of why I'm so looking forward to taking writing classes at Southern New Hampshire University and joining the Creative Writing Club--I'll have deadlines.  I've heard before that deadlines are important for an author, but now that I've fallen off of the dream trail so to speak, I realize how truly important they are.

I know I want to finish two manuscripts for this October.  I know that I want to be published before I graduate college with a second manuscript accepted.  But both of those are very loose deadlines.  So I need to tighten up my goals.  I currently have a daily word count goal of 3k words that I've not even been close to hitting.  So--how am I going to find the trail again?  I'm going to whip my Muse and me back into shape.  Forget about the morning stretches, I'll get up while it's still quiet and dark and submerge myself in whichever one of my main manuscripts reaches for me first.  I'm going to start using Dr. Wicked's Write or Die website http://writeordie.drwicked.com/ so that I definitely hit my daily word count goal.  I'm going to finally join the New Hampshire Romance Writers of America so I'm among my own kind and that should do the trick of keeping me en route until the fall semester rolls around.  Generally, all anyone needs is a little push, but we're usually pushed in too many directions by too many different things.  I'm an extremely stubborn person, I can push back.  I won't be lost.

"Don't be pushed by your problems.  Be led by your dreams."  -Anonymous