Cyn

I was thinking today that although I love writing, writing is also work.  Just like a job, you have to prioritize different components of the work. 

The biggest priority I see is time.  If you were working a traditional job, you would work set hours.  We need to do this with our writing as well.  It is too easy for other things to steal into our writing time so we must make it an unshakeable priority.  No excuses.

With a lot of jobs, you need to prepare as well.  Sometimes this is taking refresher classes, or getting certifications, maybe meeting a new educational requirement.  In writing, we need to prepare also.  We need to prepare our characters, knowing them inside out, as well, if not better than we know ourselves.  We also need to seek out further education regarding our craft.  There is always something to learn, someone to read or study to find out more about how we can be better writers.  Right now I am reading Story by Robert McKee and am learning, or perhaps relearning some basic tenets that belong in the concept of story.

We also need to know when to quit for the day.  Just like punching out, quiting at 5 to go home, writers need to learn to set some limits on their time so they can get away from the computer, refill their wells of creativity and relax.  As writers we need to read and we need to keep expanding our experiences.  Can't do that fastened into the desk chair.

As writers we are lucky.  We are lucky because we love our jobs.  We love sharing in our particular way our own truths through the vehicle of story.  We have one of the best jobs in the world.