Happy New Year dear writers/readers –

Over the holidays various people at parties have said to me, “I really want to write but -”   then they shrug. “It’s so hard to find the time,” they say.

So, here’s Getting Started 101: You will never find the time. There will always be something much more interesting or fun or necessary to do rather than sitting alone in a room staring at a blank screen or sheet of paper. Just think of all the entertaining stuff we have at our finger tips – streaming movies, binge watching “The Crown”, going down the rabbit hole of Facebook, Instagram et al. I was given some wonderful new toys for Christmas –  Alexa and Sonos speakers –  and now I can sit around for days asking Alexa questions and dreaming up play lists for my speakers. There are also the things that aren’t so much fun but need to be dealt with (my garage springs to mind – ) – plus of course there’s work and family and all the rest of it. So yeah, it’s hard to find time to write.

But if you want to write, have to write, will not be happy unless you get that memory down on paper or start the novel – well, you’re just going to have to pull yourself together and make the time, because you will never find the time. Our lives are made up out of what we do with our time. It’s that simple.

I’m wishing you joy for the New Year, good health, and a lot of books to read – but most of all I wish you the tenacity and stubbornness to make time for your writing. It’s important. One of the most important things you can do. No one else can tell your story – whether it’s true or from your imagination. It’s your story and it’s important. Write it.

“There are two of you – one who wants to write and one who who doesn’t. The one who wants to write better keep tricking the one who doesn’t..”  Maria Irene Fornes