This week: Writing and filling the well …

Today’s questions are from Jo Richardson and if you arrived here from Vicki Mixon thanks for continuing the hop.

How often do you write? I try to write something every day, even if it’s for a blog post. Right now I’m pushing to finish a short story before edits come in from my editor on an 80,000 word novel.

Do you think it’s important to your craft to write as much as you can, and as often as you can? Writing is like anything else, the more you do the better you become, if you’re paying attention and learning. It took me longer because I feared a harsh critique would kill my desire. Once I joined a writing and critique group, I listened to advice from published authors and my critique mates. Our chapter’s PRO liaison bled all over the first story I gave her, but what I learned was invaluable. I took those lessons and applied them to my full length novel, made revisions and a year later I received a contract offer.

However, writing is not all about learning the rules and putting words to paper, you must fill the well too. If all you do is write and not read or enjoy other aspects of life, where do you draw your enthusiasm from?

What is your opinion on the saying “if you don’t write every day, you’re not a writer”? I work full time five days a week. Because I don’t work Saturday or Sunday, doesn’t make me any less professional at what I do. Again, writers need to drink in life in order to create.

Weekends are when I do most of my writing. I’m also a member of a monthly critique group and need to have new material for the group which pushes me to crank out pages. I wrote a book last year just by having a couple of chapters ready for them each month.

That’s all for me today, but please continue on to Raine Balkera and find out about her craft habits.

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