“What do I have to do to be a
writer?”
Write.
Believe it or not, it’s as simple as that. Writers write. It’s what we do. But
you’d be surprised how many people forget that.
I’ve met several potential writers who have bragged about all the work they’ve
done on their project. One had a detailed outline of their proposed novel.
Another had 3x5 cards filled with biographical notes for each character. A
third had a notebook in which he kept hours’ worth of research. When I asked
them how far they had gotten in their book, they admitted they had not written
anything yet. These people completely miss the point. Research, plot, and
character are necessary, but not anywhere near as important as actually writing
the book.
So get out there and start writing.
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re published and have plenty of time to write.
I don’t.”
No one has time to write. You need to
make time.
Most writers I know maintain a day job or have a very understanding significant
other with a well-paying job and a lot of patience. Before I retired and was
able to write full time, I used to get up at 6 AM and head off to work by 7 AM.
If I was lucky, I’d be home around 5 PM. Then I had to feed, clean, and spend
time with the pets (you don‘t own pets, pets own you); do chores and errands;
and try to have some meager semblance of a social life. Yet, over the course of
ten years, I managed to write six novels, a novella, and a dozen short stories.
To do that, I made sacrifices. I rarely played video games, and had to force
myself to take time for me and read or watch television. I don’t want to admit to the number of
times I’d spend several hours cranking out a chapter, only to be greeted
afterwards by sets of mopey brown eyes and furry dejected faces giving me that
why-didn’t-you-play-with-me look.
Anyone who truly and
passionately wants to write will find time to do so. Get up an hour early or
stay up an hour late (as long as you devote that entire time solely to
writing). If you commute by public transportation, use that time. Devote some
of your “down time” to writing. Sure, you might have to forego watching X
Factor or curtail your time surfing cute pet videos on YouTube, but are
these really more important than getting your book written?
“Oh, come on. How much writing do you really expect me to get done in an hour a
day?”
Let me put it this way. In that hour, anyone can write a single page. If you
type in double space, that’s approximately 300 words a day. If you do that
every day for a year, when you’re done you will have 365 pages totaling over
100,000 words. That, my friends, is a novel.
So what are you waiting for? Close down the Internet, call up your computer,
and start writing.
NEXT BLOG: How To Write Well
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