Starting All Over Again...

Wow. Almost 2 years since the last post in this blog. But this is not a reflection on the topic itself, just the dedication of the author who writes about it. Finding time to write is still an obsession of mine and an issue for most of the writers I meet. How do we find time to write during our busy lives? We are not full-time professionals or best-selling authors who live solely by the royalties of our hugely successful best-seller backlists, as well as our current #1 New York Times best-selling novel that happens to be a hit with critics as well as fans.

We have day jobs. We are stay-at-home moms and dads. We sell everything from ad space in the local weekly to new Hummers (good luck with that in this economy). We fix things: cars, laser printers, leaky toilets, and leaky heart valves. We drive yellow school buses, build condos, roof houses, teach classes, and millions of other things. But that is just during our day jobs.

We then start the second shift and wash clothes, cook (or order) dinners, play with kids, help with reading or algebra, read Goodnight Moon (yet again), and look for monsters under beds. We go to soccer practice, Rotary meetings, bowling tournaments, and dental appointments. We also gossip on the phone with friends, play games on Facebook, watch endless hours of Oprah, Dr. Phil, and people who are Lost or Dancing with Stars. We aimlessly surf the web, obsess over bad economic news, and stare off into space.

But we all want something more: A novel on the shelf at the local Barnes & Noble, an interview with Matt and Meredith about your latest project, a room full of literary awards, or an illustrated family history to hand down from generation to generation. We want to find a little bit of room (and time) for our dreams in this never-slowing-runaway-train of a life we live.

I hope that this blog will help you find that. Through the advice and anecdotes from another extremely busy working writer; tidbits of time-saving knowledge or habits from other writers; links to helpful sites and products; and some good time-management info, I hope to help you discover and live your creative writing dream in 15 minutes a day.