In your diary, right now, book an hour where you will write. It’s a date. It’s your hour.
I book my time and try to turn up. I notice that I sometimes get there late but I say to myself – stay and write. Even if I’m scared of writing. The first few times can be hard. But it’s my time.
If I don’t want to write any prose or poetry, I take out my ‘Free writing’ notebook and write my thoughts down. That’s writing.
Or put some notes together that could form a story.
Or brainstorm a bit, jotting down ideas or snippets of dialogue, my description for a story.
Or, in the words of Anne Lamott in ‘bird by bird’, write a shitty first draft.
Every time I turn up it gets easier to be there. Some days I can’t wait to start.
