Making time to write, as opposed to finding time, has long been a theme of mine, as any of my students can tell you.<\/p>\n
If you are really serious about being a writer, (as who of us are not?), you make necessary changes in your life. IMO, the most important change is making sure you are prepared to write when the moment comes. Warning: These suggestions might not work for you. Use what you can.<\/p>\n
A writer needs a base of operations, a room, place, nook or corner that belongs exclusively to him\/her. A computer and printer on a desk or table, a good chair, a lamp; these are the absolute minimum items necessary to create your own space.<\/p>\n
Let everyone know how much of this space you are willing to share. Educate your significant other and your children. Rule One? When you are writing, you must not be disturbed. Copious bleeding, a fire in the house, a terrorist attack. These events are acceptable interruptions.<\/p>\n
Remind them that your writing will not take a lot of time. I suggest a planned hour a day at first, then several times a day or night, working around your personal life schedule. My students were always astounded at the amount of text they could produce in a ten minute writing exercise. I\u2019d give them a one or two-sentence situation statement and a couple of characters and set the timer. They would read what they had written aloud. These exercises were fun and popular with my students.<\/p>\n
Which reminds me, and this is important. Plan what you will be working on. Always, always, carry a pen and a tiny notebook. Make notes, make lots of notes. Napkins are handy when you\u2019re eating out. A small recorder is wonderful for saving ideas. Know what you\u2019re going to write when you assume the position. That\u2019s BIC\u2014butt in chair!<\/p>\n
Earn your family\u2019s respect by your day in, day out dedication to sheer hard work. When they see your persistence, they will know you are serious about turning yourself into a published writer. They will understand your drive to learn and your desire to refine your writing skills. They will see that you need to be with other writers. Translation: Regular writer\u2019s meetings and occasional writer\u2019s conferences.<\/p>\n
Warn them you probably won\u2019t be making money for awhile. If they love you enough, they will become unselfish enablers instead of obstacles. Otherwise, I\u2019d say somebody needs a serious attitude adjustment. And hey! I\u2019m sure you are just the gal or guy who can do that. Stand up for what you deserve. When you do publish, they will be so proud.
\nMake a time and place to write and do it. Write. Don\u2019t play games\u2014write. You can do it, I know you can. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Making time to write, as opposed to finding time, has long been a theme of mine, as any of my students can tell you. If you are really serious about being a writer, (as who of us are not?), you make necessary changes in your life. IMO, the most important change is making sure you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144\/revisions\/146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bkreeves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}