I was listening to the Writing Excuses podcast last week (you know what the WE 'cast is.... and if you don't you really should), and Howard Taylor made a very good point when asked 'How do you get your spouse to take your writing seriously?"He theorised that, as in writing, showing is better than telling. Give up something you really enjoy doing in order to make time for your writing. Show your other half you care enough about this to make sacrifices, or why should they?What stuck was not that my wife doesn't take my writing seriously. She does. I could not be more lucky (other than the usual) in having a spouse who supports and encourages me.... And I have made sacrifices. I've given up a lot in order to make more writing time.... but as most of you find, as you secure your time to write, you do what you can to witter away that time. It's part of the creative process, unhinging your brain to think in the background while you do mundane shit.But I realised that that's not being fair. My wife fields the kids a lot for me. She's supportive enough that when I finally become a published author that I should be able to do it full time. So then I should be making more time. She is giving me a gift, and I will not waste it.This is a round about way of saying get up that extra hour in the morning. Do what you have to do to get those words down. Do it. Do it for yourself, but mostly, do it for your family.
Getting Edumacated
I'm a big fan of the Writing Excuses podcast. It's definitely a must-listen for any beginner writer out there, and it was also an introduction to me for the writings of Brandon Sanderson. I'm in an odd position that I find myself a fan of Sanderson without actually reading any of his novels. I enjoyed his short story in the Armored anthology from JJ Adams, but I feel after listening to him expound on the craft and approaches of writing so much I cna't help but feel respect for the man.Anyway, I'm saying this because I had a series of YouTube videos brought to my attention. They're a collection of classes Brandon gave to his college class on creative writing. There's a fair few hour's worth of material here for people to listen to, and I already have, and if there's a way to download them I will for future reference.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbL-84SkT4Q&feature=relmfu