Finding Time to Write

…Do not tell me you are a writer but have no time to write. I don’t have time for that (because I am writing)…

Linda Lafferty on Finding Time to Write | WritersDigest.com.

Ouch. Delivered to my inbox this afternoon was this article from Writer’s Digest. Linda Lafferty is a busy woman. I daresay busier than me *gasp*. Or you *double gasp*. Go ahead and read the article to see exactly how busy she is. Yet she made a life-altering decision to make the time to write, not only despite her life, but from within the framework of her harried life.

…Why was writing important?

Because it was just me and my imagination. It was like recess for a child at school. True, at first I just gritted my teeth and sat down to write. It was not easy. It was a chore for me, just one more task to complete in my busy day and night. Until a powerful feeling came over me. Bewitching.

As the novel unfolded before me, I was hooked. I loved the world I entered when I sat down to write. I had all the freedom in the world—unlike daily statistic quizzes. I could follow my characters, hear their dialogue. The dynamic was much the same as a child playing with toys—or floating sticks on a stream. Imaginary characters, storytelling. Freedom to imagine…

Bewitching indeed.  I think that any of us who claim to be a writer must know the feeling. Yet somehow that feeling, like all good things, can be turned into something not so pleasant. We can make writing a chore. We can lose the childlike relationship we have with our words, and feel the need to write more as an obligation than as a joy. Linda Lafferty challenges us to open ourselves to the joy of our writing. Treat it like the vacation it is form our busy lives. Stop whining and write.

…You can find time. Yes you can. If you are a writer and don’t write it’s like saying you are alive but can’t find time to breathe. Be kind to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up! Nurture yourself by writing.

So… why are you still here? Don’t you have something to write?