9 Highly Practical Tips On Writing

From a soon-to-be-published author

I didn’t grow up thinking I would become a writer. Even six years ago, it felt like a hope too personal to speak out loud. I was about to start my MFA at Bennington, writing impassioned theater reviews for a local paper for $75 a story, and nannying. I’d taken a few writing courses. And I didn’t know what would happen after grad school, only that writing was the thread I could trace all the way back to childhood—the thing that always made sense to me.

Cut to present: I still write every day. My first book comes out in less than three months. And this little letter has become a massive part of my everyday career. Lucky feels trite, but it’s true. My hope is to share some practices and resources that carried me from hapless nanny with angry journal entries about the losers I was dating to full-time writer.

Build a writing practice

When people ask me if getting an MFA was worth it (yes if you’re not paying for it and can take time off), I always advise that the most important takeaway from my time at Bennington was my writing practice.

This looks different for everyone, but I learned a lot from Jamie Quatro, who in an interview, explained she likes to take as little time as possible from waking to getting to the page, as to not disrupt the dream state.

For the past six-ish years, I’ve done the same, taking weekends off, but treating those first few hours as sacred. When I’m in the early phases of a project, this time becomes even more valuable. Figure out when you write best + then build the rest of your day around protecting that pocket.