Time

Time is the only thing a writer has to forcibly take from others in order to practice their art.

Time is one of the two primary factors that seem to writers an advantage over other writers.

Already I can hear you countering. Of course you need time, you can’t write a book on an hour a day. Or thirty minutes. Or ten. Or five. It takes ass-in-chair time. To get anything of quantity out, just write.

Oh, the uplifting messages about Time. Just do it. No one is stopping you but you.

Well, first-time mother with six months maternity leave and a husband whose job will carry the bills on his salary (not pay, salary) if you could just give up those lattes, recycle a few items, scale down in the level of beauty product you use…you just take that time that freed up and write…I don’t know, whatever you want apparently.

Oh, fully pensioned recent retiree, now is the time.

Or even better, get a divorce and marry someone who can support you while you write.

Because you have a lot of expenses coming. But Money is another matter.

Write lots of short stories, you need those for contests. Get that novel finished, you can’t email an agent with unfinished word count. Writer’s conferences, workshops, classes, webinars. Writer’s groups, reading groups. Laptops, smart phones, apps that help you optimize every second of this time you are so preciously spending. And the editing. Plus reading. Not only your own work, out loud to your many groups is recommended, but as many other authors as you possibly can.

Then there are the rest of us.

Grateful for the hours we can get so the week to week we live on will clear the checking account. Jobs like that pay, and they take a price on your body and mind. Everyone gets to treat you exactly how they please, because you are just grateful to have that two-week paycheck. If only it were a reliable salary.

After you’ve slung fifty pound tubs of leaking shampoo around all day as fast as you can, after you are screamed at by an addict, and then berated by your boss who will neither confront nor comply with said addict, after you pick up the work load of the co-worker with a legitimate medical condition who manages to put together a pretty outfit and somehow “work around” the stack of work she is not expected to finish, you are just irresponsible if you don’t make time to write.

Oh, if you have kids and/or a spouse, any sort of extroverted life, sick parents, or any other life obligation, well, it’s just your own fault for not making time for everything writing demands of writers other than writing.

The only thing standing in the way of you is you.