It has happened to me hundreds of times.  My schedule is clear, children are occupied, housework is caught up, and suddenly my writing time flops because I don’t know how to start.  Starting is necessary to reach a finished article, short story, poem or novel. In order to write, you must practice writing on a regular basis. Inspiring writing comes with routine, innovation, and determination.

• Writing Bursts

  Ban together with fellow writers and have a writing burst.  Twenty to thirty minutes of free writing will loosen the words – and your fingers – while building the creative juices.

• Musical Melodies

  Playing a music selection during your writing time will help train your body to write during those same melodies.  Music will also create a white noise, blending all the distracting sounds.  A particular music selection can also bring back the inspiration of a particular story if you stop the tract when it becomes necessary to move onto other scheduled items.

• Lists

  Writing out your lists for the day, including to-do’s, shopping, bills, and chores will allow you the opportunity to clear your mind of those tasks and focus on what you have set down to do during your writing time.

• Scheduling

  It is not only important, but vital to a writer’s life to schedule your day around the time you write, not the other way around.  If you are trying to take care of life first and fail to nurture the writer within you, the writer within you will fail to perform when time comes.

• Taking the phone off the hook

  Yes, I absolutely mean that.  The phone can be a major distraction.  Friends and family call when they feel the need to share a funny story or complain about the clerk at the store forgetting to give change.  There is no use in telling anyone to call you x many times in a row if it is an emergency.  There will always be one person who believes the clogged sink is worth interrupting you.  Unless you are a plumber and are able to snake a drain, it is NOT important.