Stamina

In my last entry I talked about something all writers must do (prioritize). This time I'll talk about something all writers must have that is equally (perhaps more) important. Stamina.

I'm not talking about physical stamina here. I'm talking about stamina as a writer. Any writer cannot write two hours in a month and be exhausted after that. No writer can write even an hour a week, and feel that is enough. The natural instinct of the mind and body is to be lazy, and any successful writer must fight the minds lazy instincts to pretend that writing very little is okay. It's not okay. It never is.

Stamina is something some writers just have naturally. They learn to write, and they write a lot from the start. Others, like me, have to teach ourselves to have it. In order to do that we must understand what kind of stamina we must have. Think of writing like a full time or a part time job, depending on your situation. If it's full time then think of how often one works at a full time job. 40 hours, and usually 5 days a week. Make this your goal. If part time then your goals can be lower. Somewhere between 10 and 30 hours throughout the week should be good depending on the situation.

This may sound daunting, but that's just an excuse. A full time writer that can't dedicate full time hours to writing is just lazy. If it's your full time job then work it like a full time job. If you refuse then you should get another job. Dreams must be worked for. Truthfully, putting this kind of time into writing is quite easy. Remember that writing involves more then just writing. It often involves research, reading, planning, and editing. The things we read don't even have to be related to what is being written. One could write a blog entry, research for a historical novel, edit a short story, and read a romance novel in the same day. It can be easy, but it takes stamina in order to do this.

It doesn't matter if you don't naturally have it. I didn't either. There were a couple of years early in life that I just didn't write much. Eventually I realized that I needed to be more dedicated to it if I hoped to spend my life doing it, and I built up the needed stamina in order to make being a writer an integral part of my life. I'd recommend all writers do this same thing. Decide if you consider your writing to be a part time or full time job, and put the appropriate hours into it as a result. I can almost guarantee this this will help any writer become a better writer.

Taylor