Who's Minding the Store?
question
How do you find time to write?
David
Feb 06, 2013 08:34PM
I was asked this question while attending a book event. All writers have their own technique. Here's something that works for me. Be sure to share yours!
While attending the 47th Annual Local Authors Event at the SD Public Library the question was asked, “How do you find time to write?” It was a generic question put to us by guests invited by authors.
Writers have their own style. It’s usually a style that allows them to make the most of their time, be creative, and have fun when writing. Ernest Hemingway was known to write standing up. His desk was a podium. Some writers, like Rick Castle, write in the wee hours of the night. Some writers even write in the nude! (Not me). It’s whatever works for each writer, is the rule of the typewriter or in this day and age, the rule of the laptop.
For me, I like to write in the early morning while everyone is still fast asleep. I have a pot of coffee nearby and whip out as many pages as I can. You see, my mind is fresh and rested after a night’s sleep, so to be able to write before I exercise, cut the grass, fold the clothes, and do anything else that needs doing, I write.
Another writer’s tip that works for me: I bought a small Eee PC laptop I take to work and write during lunch break. You can write a full page in 30 minutes, which may not sound like a lot. Add 1 page, 5 days a week, and what do you come up with in a year? That’s not including the time you have to write on your day off when you have the house to yourself.
I also do what Stephen King states in his book On Writing. I read a lot, and write a lot. I was excited to read that part in his book because I’ve been doing this since I started writing at the age of fourteen. It made me feel good to know I was doing a lot of the things writers do without being told I should do them. It was an indication I was meant to be a writer. Yes, that feeling is important.
Choose to read a book similar to what you’re writing about, too. This will help take you in new directions for your story, give you more ideas, and help with your research. My latest book, Who’s Minding the Store, was about life in a home improvement store, and how I earn my living. I didn’t necessarily need to do a lot of research about how a store runs because I live it five days a week. I did, however, need to learn a new writing technique, which was about comedy. I chose books that were both highly successful, and mildly successful for my research (I listed a few in the back pages of my book, and suggest you put them on your must-read list).
There are so many tips to share I could go on and on, so I’ll keep it short by sharing this final tidbit of information. As it so happens, it’s one of the most important tips you’ll ever read.
Make time to write!
Don’t make excuses. I have to do the same things as everyone else. I have to fold the laundry, take the dog for a walk, cut the grass, help clean the kitchen, make the bed, make our lunches for work (I do that each night before going to bed), pay the bills, wash the cars, go to the grocery store….Yep, I do everything that you do too.
Still, I make time to write. I take my small laptop to work, I write in the morning while my wife is asleep or at work so that I’m not taking time away from our together-time by writing while she’s at home. Sometimes my wife likes to work on ceramics, so we compromise. I write in the garage where she has her work station setup and we both are together while doing what we enjoy most…Well, not necessarily the most, but you get my meaning.
Just write! When you want to do something, believe me you will find the time. Just do it. Squeeze it in your schedule. Instead of watching two hours of TV before going to bed, take half an hour of that time and write. Write during your lunch break; write on your day off. It doesn’t have to be the whole day, just an hour or two or even half an hour. But write!
Before you know it you’ll have a manuscript ready for editing, and soon enough you’ll have a book available for readers everywhere in select stores and amazon. If you don’t think this is much of an answer to the secret to writing, that’s because the answer to most secrets is usually the simplest answer you could imagine.
So stop reading my writer’s tip and start writing! I can hardly wait to buy your book.
David
www.LuceroBooks.com
https://www.facebook.com/WhosMindingT...
While attending the 47th Annual Local Authors Event at the SD Public Library the question was asked, “How do you find time to write?” It was a generic question put to us by guests invited by authors.
Writers have their own style. It’s usually a style that allows them to make the most of their time, be creative, and have fun when writing. Ernest Hemingway was known to write standing up. His desk was a podium. Some writers, like Rick Castle, write in the wee hours of the night. Some writers even write in the nude! (Not me). It’s whatever works for each writer, is the rule of the typewriter or in this day and age, the rule of the laptop.
For me, I like to write in the early morning while everyone is still fast asleep. I have a pot of coffee nearby and whip out as many pages as I can. You see, my mind is fresh and rested after a night’s sleep, so to be able to write before I exercise, cut the grass, fold the clothes, and do anything else that needs doing, I write.
Another writer’s tip that works for me: I bought a small Eee PC laptop I take to work and write during lunch break. You can write a full page in 30 minutes, which may not sound like a lot. Add 1 page, 5 days a week, and what do you come up with in a year? That’s not including the time you have to write on your day off when you have the house to yourself.
I also do what Stephen King states in his book On Writing. I read a lot, and write a lot. I was excited to read that part in his book because I’ve been doing this since I started writing at the age of fourteen. It made me feel good to know I was doing a lot of the things writers do without being told I should do them. It was an indication I was meant to be a writer. Yes, that feeling is important.
Choose to read a book similar to what you’re writing about, too. This will help take you in new directions for your story, give you more ideas, and help with your research. My latest book, Who’s Minding the Store, was about life in a home improvement store, and how I earn my living. I didn’t necessarily need to do a lot of research about how a store runs because I live it five days a week. I did, however, need to learn a new writing technique, which was about comedy. I chose books that were both highly successful, and mildly successful for my research (I listed a few in the back pages of my book, and suggest you put them on your must-read list).
There are so many tips to share I could go on and on, so I’ll keep it short by sharing this final tidbit of information. As it so happens, it’s one of the most important tips you’ll ever read.
Make time to write!
Don’t make excuses. I have to do the same things as everyone else. I have to fold the laundry, take the dog for a walk, cut the grass, help clean the kitchen, make the bed, make our lunches for work (I do that each night before going to bed), pay the bills, wash the cars, go to the grocery store….Yep, I do everything that you do too.
Still, I make time to write. I take my small laptop to work, I write in the morning while my wife is asleep or at work so that I’m not taking time away from our together-time by writing while she’s at home. Sometimes my wife likes to work on ceramics, so we compromise. I write in the garage where she has her work station setup and we both are together while doing what we enjoy most…Well, not necessarily the most, but you get my meaning.
Just write! When you want to do something, believe me you will find the time. Just do it. Squeeze it in your schedule. Instead of watching two hours of TV before going to bed, take half an hour of that time and write. Write during your lunch break; write on your day off. It doesn’t have to be the whole day, just an hour or two or even half an hour. But write!
Before you know it you’ll have a manuscript ready for editing, and soon enough you’ll have a book available for readers everywhere in select stores and amazon. If you don’t think this is much of an answer to the secret to writing, that’s because the answer to most secrets is usually the simplest answer you could imagine.
So stop reading my writer’s tip and start writing! I can hardly wait to buy your book.
David
www.LuceroBooks.com
https://www.facebook.com/WhosMindingT...
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