The date you start writing about your life should be memorable, like a wedding date or a birthday.

Or like becoming a non-smoker. The last time I gave up cigarettes I set the date. None of this drama of suddenly squashing out a cigarette and exclaiming “That’s the last cigarette I’ll ever smoke!” (though I certainly did a lot of that too.)  When I gave up cigarettes for good, 25 years ago, I set the date and made plans: a weekend women’s retreat, yoga classes and new running shoes. In some odd convoluted way I think this is analogous to writing. Sure you can suddenly fly to your computer exclaiming today you start your book or the essay! But preparing for the day, suddenly yearning for the day, making it important, building up energy for it – clearing your space, desk, table, or wherever you’re going to write, setting up objects or photographs you love and making it inviting might be a good way to begin. You’re courting the muse after all.

Take time to get ready. Find memoirs or essays by writers you love. Writers who make you want to write. They’re our true teachers.  Get a copy of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird if you don’t have it already, or Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit, Abigail Thomas’s Thinking About Memoir or Ralph Keyes The Courage to Write. These are books that offer you courage to start and to keep going.  They’re also great reads.

Figure out what time you’ll write. On your calendar put a slash through that time slot so you won’t inadvertently plan something else. 

 In the end, wherever and whenever you work, make your work time and your writing space sacred.

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“I tell my students one of the most important things they need to know is when they are at their best, creatively. They need to ask themselves, What does the ideal room look like? Is there music? Is there silence? Is there chaos outside or is there serenity outside? What do I need in order to release my imagination?”  – Toni Morrison (Paris Review interview 1993)