Thursday, December 15, 2011

Books for Writers: Writer with a Day Job

As writers, many of us dream of the day we'll be able to give up our day jobs to write full time. We struggle to find time to write between, work and/or school, and the other obligations we seem to rack up. We often find (or make) excuses.

In preparation for NaNoWriMo I began reading, "Writer with a Day Job" by Aine Greaney. I was grabbed by the title and subtitle: "Inspiration & Exercises to Help You Craft a Writing Life Alongside Your Career."

This book lists challenges (read: excuses) and ways to overcome them. This book offers suggestions to find time to write during your day whether it's before work, after work, during your lunch hour or on your commute. No more excuses for not writing!

You'll also find writing exercises and prompts to get you started with tutorials focusing on things like dialogue and point of view.

This book came to me at the perfect time. It helped me through NaNoWriMo. In reading this book, I was inspired to wake up early and write in the morning before work, edit on my lunch break and brainstorm during my commute. I found, it's surprising what I was able to accomplish in just 15 minutes time. I highly recommend this book to anyone who works full time and struggles to find writing time in their schedule!

 I think the idea is, we don't have to write Pulitzer Prize winning work everyday. Write something, anything in the time you have. Jot notes about your characters, map our your next scene. Make observations about the people/places/things around you.

Many of us will never be able to quit our jobs and write full time. Let's face it, with exception of a very luck few, publishing a book will not allow you to quit your day job. But changing your attitude and the way you approach those extra few minutes of your day can make all the difference to finding balance between work and writing.