Monday, September 26, 2011

Don't Die Waiting to Write that First Word!

“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word to paper." -E.B. White

I know too many would-be authors who are waiting for the "perfect time" to start writing. It might be when they finish college or when the kids are grown or when they retire. Others are a little less specific. They say they'll write when they aren't so busy, or have a little more time. Or…when the muse strikes.

Sorry, people! There are no ideal conditions or perfect circumstances, so stop waiting for them before you start writing (I'm saying this with an encouraging smile). :)

 The time to start writing is now. You can carve out an hour a day--or even an hour a week. You can do that hour all at once or you can divide it up into 15-30 minute segments. Really, you can put in at least an hour a week, and you'll be surprised at how even with that minimal amount of time your word count will add up at the end of a month. Get up a little earlier in the morning and write. Or announce (even if it's only to yourself) that Friday evenings from 9-10 is your time for writing, and that's that!

Don't put too much pressure on yourself, though, if you've set "only" an hour a week as your writing time. Tell yourself you have to write only two sentences. 99% of the time you will end up writing much more than that. But on those occasions when two sentences are "it," don't feel bad. That's two more sentences than if you hadn't written anything at all!

You really do have only one life, so the time to start writing is immediately.

 For information about me, my books and my kitties, visit: http://annherrickauthor.com/

2 comments:

  1. Definitely! The time is now!

    When I started out, I was writing longhand in a notebook. My daughter encouraged me by saying, "Write a page a day and in 365 days you'll have 365 pages!" She was right! :)

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  2. A good reminder for all of us! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete