I Wanted The “Writers Life,” but I Sucked At It

so I asked three established artists how to get work done

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Once upon a time I didn’t have a real job, a mortgage, 2 cars, a timeshare, or that opportunistic dwindler of all my energy - my darling child.

Instead, I had all the time in the world. ALL-THE-TIME-IN-THE-WORLD!

I often look upon those leisurely days in awe. And sometimes I want to go back in time and electrocute myself.

Did I really have to spend day after day reading on the beach? How many shows could I go to in a month? How many boyfriends did I burn through? Did I ever go to bed before 2:00 AM?

I can tell you what I wasn’t doing. Writing.

Every few years I would write something catchy, and a teacher, a writer, or someone in the field would say, “Hey this is really good, you should be a writer.”

That was my first clue— I needed to write.

My brain never stopped creating stories, sentences, dialogue - it never stopped. “You should write a screenplay.”

I know.

So why wasn’t I writing? It wasn’t writers block. The blank page didn’t scare me. It wasn’t a lack of confidence. I was a decent writer, a good enough writer. I wasn’t competing with…