Just Write!

Contrary to what many of you might imagine, a career in letters is not without its drawbacks -- chief among them the unpleasant fact that one is frequently called upon to sit down and write. ~ Fran Lebowitz

I don't understand "writers" who don't write. Writing something is never a problem for me... now, writing something specific? Yeah, all the time.

Fact is, though, if I can't write on my WIP, I'll work on a short story. BUT, because I have goals, I will drag myself through hell and back to work on my WIP and meet them. I'm all about goals. Seriously, it's the competitor in me. I try not to set the bar impossibly high, but high enough to challenge me. I have my excel spreadsheet that keeps track of word count and either congratulates me for meeting or exceeding my goal ("Way to go!!") or chides me for being behind ("Get on it!!").

With few exceptions, however, I write every day. I suppose some would say that I have it easy because I'm a SAHM. Maybe. Still, I get up earlier than everyone else in the morning and that's my writing time. When my DH and DD are up, my work day has begun, and I don't get vacation or sick days. Ever. I may be home, but I'm working. I homeschool my daughter. That's HUGE. And we school all year (though we take more days off in the summer). And she's an only child, so guess who her playmate is? Yup, that would be ME. So, time off during the day? Hah.

The biggest thing I've ever heard from any published author as far as what you do to get yourself published is WRITE. Write everyday. Get your butt in the chair and get some words on paper (or computer). Write. Even if it's crap, write something.

I'm up to fifty-eight pages in SBCM and have edited/rewritten ten for TPOF (Camilla). I've done that all since June 29th. Certainly, much will be edited and changed. But I'm getting the story down. I didn't "outline" per se, but I did enough pre-work to get a real feel for the story. I have a couple dozen scenes in my head (and on scene cards), and as I work more come to mind (that will take place in the future) and I jot them down.

So folks, if you want to be a writer -- write. It's really just that easy. The more you do it the easier it gets, and hopefully the better it is.