Laurawrites.net

The process of writing is like any other. There is always a required investment of time. You need time to develop your story, overall plot, and your characters. You will need time to refine your skills and hone your talents. You will need to write, rewrite, and write again to get it right. You should prepare to invest a lifetime into improving your chosen form of art.

For stay-at-home mothers, or those working from home, it may be easier to work in a few minutes here or there to devote to daily writing. For those on-the-go individuals, planning to write may be impossible. Don’t plan! Just write as often as possible. Planning will put a strain on your creativity and you’ll probably suffer writers’ block.

There is a practice of “drive-by” writing in development. People are finding their lives are busier than ever and the concept of hours devoted strictly to writing is fantasy. To compensate for this, keep notebooks and notepads scattered across your home. Laptop users with a battery will find transitioning from place to place much easier. You don’t need to shut down your system, simply unplug the device and go where you need to with your work open.

You may find scheduling your creativity difficult in the beginning. Don’t worry, it will become possible, and even commonplace as you develop. A few minutes while supper is cooking, a short break while waiting on a business call, perhaps a little while at night just before bed when the kids are asleep.

Working outside the home does make this more difficult, but shouldn’t be too intimidating. Work with yourself and your schedule. Keep a floppy disk or rewritable compact disk handy (CD-RW) and work during your coffee or lunch breaks. You can transfer your material to your home computer when you leave for the day.

Remember that all of the contemporary writers had similar issues to deal with. They all had jobs, bosses, families, and hectic schedules. Most have had to work around everything. They learned how to work around their limitations the same as you will.