She is one of the loveliest people I know. She's not just an incredibly talented author, but she's a dear, dear friend.
She's also super busy, so I really, really, really appreciate her stopping by for Writer Wednesday!!!!
And even more so because she tackled a topic that I am asked about constantly! So thanks Lila for lending your brilliancy to my blog!
And for you all, I hope you enjoy what she has to say and soak up every ounce of wisdom and advice!
Here is Lila.
How do you write so fast?
I think Rachel and I get asked this question pretty
frequently, and I know I do.
I get called ‘a machine’ more times than I can count, which
is really weird to me. And I’ll tell you why.
I’m so not a machine.
I’m not a robot.
I’m a writer who is committed to my craft which takes a lot
more dedication than a robot possesses in his circuits. I dream it, breathe it,
live it, and most of all, I love it. I’m a person who has been blessed enough
to find her calling in life. How many people can say that?
Not very many.
But the thing is—being an author is hard, beautiful, effing
work. It’s up in the middle of the night, back up before the kids wake up,
entire gallons of extra caffeinated coffee, sometimes I can feel the veins in
my brain ache, hard work. And that’s just the marketing, and the social media.
I write every single day. Even if I skip a day, there is
plotting and planning (which is writing in a sense) going on in my head at all
times. It never ceases. Never.
And some days I don’t like it. Some days I sit at the
computer and curse the fire out of it and contemplate throwing it across the
room. But, I sit at it anyway and once the story begins to flow, I’m okay. I’m
back in my zone.
All in the name of storytelling.
Wonderful, glorious storytelling.
Here’s the point.
For me, this is a full-time job. So, I write, full time.
Eight, ten, twelve and sometimes more hours a day.
Because that’s what it takes.
It takes full commitment and a work ethic made of steel.
I always set goals for myself. My daily word-count is
usually 5K. If you can do that, great, if you can’t, it doesn’t matter. What
matters is that you have a goal and do your best to meet it every day. That
goal for me used to be 2K, now it’s 5K. It will grow as you grow as a writer.
And when you find you’re having trouble writing or just not
getting anywhere—read.
After all, whether you are a blogger, author, publicist or
agent—we all started and remain readers.
So read, write, and write some more.
Thank you Rachel for having me on your blog. I love your
guts.
This is why I love Lila...absolute dedication
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! Thanks :)
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