Day Job

A lot of people say to me, when they find out that I’m a writer, how they want to write themselves, but can’t find time to do it. My ethos is that a writer doesn’t find time, but rather makes time. I have a full time day job, which luckily for me, fits in with my writing – I get to lead a creative writing group for young writers. But even if I had to do a non-writing related job, I’ve come to believe there’s something to be gained from everything. Life experience = character development. In between working with teenagers, I make time to write, or read on my lunch break. Fair enough, I don’t read as much as should, since I prioritise writing, but I take little bits of information from everything I can – the Metro on the way to work, conversations on the bus, pamphlets at a doctor’s office and so on. Picking up on other styles of writing/ interesting topics/ mistakes in a printed article also helps me to hone my editing skills and improve my writing. Editing is the toughest part of being a writer for me!