The Writing Life (and insight for new authors)

So, I’m into my second day of vacation and loving it! Though, it’s odd. I don’t feel any great relief being away from my day job. I actually like the people I work with and enjoy my job. But it is nice to not HAVE to be anywhere.

My vacation time isn’t  a complete vacation, however. I’ll be writing the entire week, keeping business hours +. That’s the thing about writing and holding a day job. Actually, that’s the thing about holding a day job and pursuing your dreams. When other people leave their job for the day, there’s nothing else they have to do (This is more true when the economy is better. Right now lots of people have 2 and 3 jobs). When a writer or dream chaser leaves the day job, there’s still a lot of work to be done. I’m not punching a time card, not checking in with anybody. Nobody will make me write. But if I don’t write, my next book won’t be written and won’t be published.

A crazy secret that I don’t mind sharing is that I really don’t feel like writing every day. Seriously. If you talk to many writers they’ll tell you the same thing. Many of us sit behind the computer and waste a lot of time answering emails, playing on Facebook, plowing our fields on Farmtown. But getting behind the computer is step one. Sometimes I’d rather be watching tv, having coffee with friends or just hanging out. But once I’m behind the computer, I start getting in a writing frame of mind. Then, eventually, I pull up my word processing program and begin editing the previous day’s work. That leads nicely into the current day’s writing.

On a good day I can get into my groove in about 3o minutes. On a bad day, I can be staring at my computer screen for two hours. But I have to write every day (I give myself the weekends off unless I’m on deadline). That’s what makes writing a career and not a hobby. So, if you’re a new writer and finding it hard to hit your groove each day, don’t give up. I’d take a risk in saying every writer experiences this on a regular basis. But you have to push past that feeling of not wanting to be at the computer. If you want to be published you have to sit there and write. Treat it like it’s your job. You’ll find your flow. Every day I find my flow, without fail.

Happy Writing!!!

Related Articles

• Writing Fictional Characters Who Aren’t Like You (advancedfictionwriting.com)
• Inspire Yourself to Launch a Writing Career (prweb.com)
• 25 Words a Day Is Child’s Play (thesplinteredmind.blogspot.com)
• Running Into A Brick Wall With Your Writing (terrywhalin.blogspot.com)
• Hillary Rettig: How to Overcome Writer’s Block (huffingtonpost.com)
• “Why I write” (gointothestory.com)
• How much is too much? (arikhanson.com)