The official blog of Michelle Tuckett, word ninja.

Every Sunday, I choose a passage of wisdom from someone who knows better and much more than I do about writing, life, the universe and/or everything.

Share and enjoy!

“Start with habituation. Say you have made the decision to put aside two hours three days a week and declare that time yours, your time to write. You go wherever you can write and work at it. If you are not actively writing a story, rewrite an old one, or analyze something you did in the last of someone else’s work to see how that person did it. Dedicate that time to writing and nothing else, and keep doing it on schedule. If you are faithful to your own timetable, the day will come when, if you yield to the temptation to watch a show on television or play cards, or do something else, you may begin to feel uncomfortable, your mind may wander, or you may become restless. SP* is signaling that this is your writing time. If you yield often and ignore the signals, SP stops reminding you. If you recognize the signal and go back to work, SP will remind you a little more forcefully the next time you yield. Recognizing the signal does not mean you are aware of it necessarily. What you may be aware of is that you are uncomfortable, and when you go to work, your discomfort is eased, but that is enough. Accepted signals get stronger; ignored signals fade out.

You have nothing to worry about if you get no such signals while on vacation, traveling, having in-laws visit, or any of the other events that interrupt your daily routine. It appears that SP grants time off for such events in your life, and the signals either are not net, or are too feeble to register. When the routine is reinterred later, they return. “

~ from Storyteller, by Kate Wilhelm

*Silent Partner – considered a separate entity who lives in a writer’s head and “Is like an overworked file clerk scurrying around in your psyche taking care of things, feeding you the right file on call, nudging you to remember an appointment, filling in the blanks of your memory…”