What does your writing schedule look like?

Frankly, it’s pretty random. My first priority is to support my wife and daughters through my work-at-home freelance editing. Then, after I work to pay the bills, I write. Since I’ve been working from home since May 2006, I have found more time for my writing. The unfortunate reality is that I do not write every day or even every week. I simply can’t. On some days, I finish my editing projects by lunchtime and spend the afternoon writing. On most weekdays from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., I have no writing time at all. For that reason, I often write in the evenings, on Saturdays, and during Sunday afternoons between church services. My family and I are very involved in our church and keep that as a priority.

Don’t believe the lie that you must write every day to accomplish anything, although it is true that practice makes perfect. But it’s perseverance and drive that keep the process moving forward. If you are determined to write a novel, you will. The test is how determined you are as a good steward of your God-given ability. Even when I’m not writing, I’m meditating on my next novel’s plot and characters. I like to think of this process as a pot of soup simmering on the stove. I also constantly read, read, and read—a big preparation for writing is reading and not just what’s popular but what is excellent.

I plan to be a student for the rest of my life, and I’m always seeking to improve and be better. (I’m constantly reading a novel and wishing I could be that good.) Thinking that I have arrived would be the height of arrogance. I would love to have nothing else to do every day but work on the next novel, but that notion simply isn’t real life for most of us who have to earn a living.

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