How can I stick to a writing schedule?
By Nava Atlas | On November 12, 2016 | Updated December 28, 2018 | Comments (0)
Dear Literary Ladies,
I would dearly love to call myself a professional writer, but I’m so easily distracted. After the kids go to school, it’s off to work, the gym, and endless errands. On weekends, I entertain family or visit with friends. In the midst of all this, I can’t seem to find time to write. How can I fit everything in?
To be a professional writer one must be prepared to give up almost everything except living. Amateur writers are not included in this rule (I loathe loud-talking amateurs of any walk of life).
An amateur is an apprentice and should conduct himself as such, keeping [her] mouth shut and learning [her] craft). The first lesson to be learned by a writer is to be able to say, “Thanks so much. I’d love to, but I can’t. I’m working.
All this does not mean that I believe a writer should forego travel, change, variety, gayety, fresh experiences. A writer, like the snail, takes his house — or his workhouse — with [her] wherever [she] goes. A writer is, or should be, an explorer and a discoverer of the human race.”
—Edna Ferber, A Kind of Magic, 1963
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Find more writing advice from classic authors in Dear Literary Ladies.
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