Writers Write!!

By Jill Burgoyne

I was talking to a lady at a subway restaurant and told her that I was a writer. She told me that she had "tons of really good ideas" but she just didn't know where to go from there. "How do you become a writer?" Well, I believe that the distinction between a writer and a non-writer is that: writers write. We put priority on it and we practice it, and we perfect it.

As a young mother of 2 with one due in 4.5 weeks, I am definitely facing some priority collisions. It already takes a tremendous effort for me to get 20 minutes of straight, quiet, writing, but when baby comes, I KNOW that I'll have to be creative. I make myself write 15 minutes a day. My days are just happier when I do. When baby comes, 15 minutes might dwindle to 10 minutes or even just a few sentences- in the words of a fellow writer "One page a day adds up".

When I wanted to complete a manuscript, I made a goal of 2,000 words a day. I finished the manuscript in 3 weeks. It was great! And I was a little sleepy at the end of it. But I accomplished my goal. When we write, we are practicing and perfecting our craft.

Writers write. That's what we do.