As I perused the freelance writer boards, I found my summer writer behavior validated. One site's editor wrote that as a writer on any given morning she gets up, turns on her computer, starts the coffee, and sits down to see what new freelance jobs are posted.
Unless I have a morning workshop or hubby has me out fishing, I find that is exactly what I have been doing this summer. Oh, if I could only do that during the school year. As a teacher, my students and the classes I teach become my focus to the detriment of my writing career. I have to figure out how to balance the two this summer without getting out of bed before 5:00 am or going to bed at midnight.
Although most books and websites about writing stress the importance of writing each day, I am one of those who needs to experience both sides of the coin, so to speak.
Two years ago, the district where I teach added creative writing as a semester elective. As a teacher, I stressed to my creative writing students the importance of writing at least 10 minutes each day and preferably at the same time each day. Research also stresses that it is important for teachers to participate in consistent writing practices with their students; hence, I wrote on the same prompt for the same 10 minutes as my students. As I look at my summer so far, this has had by far the clearest effect on my writing. I miss the specific time; I miss the prompts; I miss the focus. As I sit at home, far too many things invade my thoughts: mow the lawn, weed the garden, laundry, dishes.
So, not to sound redundant, it is important for emerging writers to carve out some specific time during the day (not just whenever) to sit down and write. Write something. Write anything. Ramble. Write a letter to a friend. Describe your day. But, whatever you do, WRITE!
