How do you live “a writer’s life”? By writing! (And editing, and publishing, and marketing. But we’ll get to that.)
But sometimes (okay a lot of the time) it’s hard to fit writing into our busy, busy lives. Kids, school, work, house maintenance, relationships . . . We’re pulled in a million directions every day.
The key to fitting in anything important is to find the time and protect that time.
Three different people have asked me in the last month about how to balance their writing, work, family, and life. Step 1: ask someone who actually knows. I’m too busy coordinating home repairs while my spouse travels for work. New water heater this week. Broken window replaced last week.
But I realized dealing with a broken water heater is actually a perfect example of how to manage multiple areas of your life while you keep writing. Hint: it has nothing to do with balance.
Have you ever been told by some well-meaning soul that writing can’t be taught? Have you heard that the ability to create beautiful sentences and convey a heart-wrenching story is inborn, and you either have it or you don’t?
The Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges said, “Art is fire plus algebra.” That flame blazes in all of us, and can be fanned by passion and dedication. What’s more, we can apply the algebra through deliberate study and practice.
I believe writing can absolutely be taught and learned. Here’s how.
How do you write beautiful, award-winning novels, memoirs, and short stories? One tried-and-true way is through a writing workshop, a program with other writers who can give encouragement, feedback, and support as you write, edit, and publish your writing.
In this post, I’m going to share what a creative writing workshop is and how you can use it to improve your writing habits, get feedback on your creative writing, and go on to publish award-winning writing. Then we’ll talk about how to find a writing workshop, whether online or locally, and how to get the most out of it.
Goals can help you do a lot of things. They keep you focused, they help you strive to be better, and they challenge you.
There are several different kinds of goals you should set for yourself. I’m thinking of three specifically. And trust me when I say they’ll help you immensely.
How do you keep writing through life’s big changes? New houses, new jobs, new babies, even new puppies can throw a wrench into your writing life. It’s so easy to get distracted, run out of time, and lose your writing motivation.
Change is inevitable. It messes with our lives, turns our world upside down. Even through these changes, writers have to write. It’s easy to say you’re distracted, that you can’t write right now. You’ll pick it back up when things have settled down.
But the longer you go without writing, the less likely you are to pick it back up. So what to do?
