Three Tips for Becoming a Writer

5 Tips For Becoming A Writer

By Billie A Williams

1.      Make time to write

Everyone is allotted the same twenty four hours in their day. If you want to be a writer, you must write. Therefore, you number one priority must be to adjust your twenty-four hours to include writing time. Even ten or fifteen minutes a day is a good start.

2.    Self Discipline is a Golden Key

If that means setting strict hours (or whatever amount of time you’ve determined to start writing with), allow no distractions to creep into that time.  Five a.m. to ten a.m. or whatever your schedule will bear. Barter with spouse or neighbors to take the children or walk the dog if that is the only time you can find for writing. If your children are in school and you work, use your lunch hour to write.

Perhaps you need to find a writing buddy to keep you accountable. And be sure you reward yourself somehow for sticking to it and getting your agreed upon writing done for the day or week. Rewards help you focus and anticipate you’ll do what you need to do.

3.      Write in spite of or in the middle of distractions.

Let the dirty dishes and the dust go or delegate them to someone else, or attend to them after your scheduled writing time. Believe me they will still be there waiting for you unless you delegated them to someone else.

Tune out neighborhood noise. Let answering machine catch those phone calls. Tell friends and family you are serious and protective of your writing time. You will not answer the phone or the door during that time. Unless your house is on fire, or someone is bleeding profusely with a life threatening accident, wait until your done writing for the time you set for the day before interrupting you.

This should get you well on your way to becoming a writer if that is your dream. Try it. Set a time, discipline yourself and others to respect that time. When you can slice larger and larger amounts of time from your daily schedule you will begin to feel like the writer you dream of becoming.

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Billie A Williams, mystery suspense author and author of the popular series of writing books Writing Wide, Exercises in Creative Writing from Filbert Publishing. Sign up for her writing courses or buy her books at http://www.billiewilliams.com .