Guest Post by The Oldest Living Middle-Aged Writer

Bored woman writing immensely long essay.

All of my life I’ve been writing a book.

The idea consumes me. My brain is chock full of amazing ideas and scintillating dialogue. Every day I fantasize about writing, and every now and then I put actual words on the page.

A good friend of mine just finished writing an entire book. Curious, I asked her what her writing routine was. She told me she writes every day, just like a job. She doesn’t let anything interfere with her writing time because it’s her priority.

My priorities involve changing the shelf paper and organizing the closets. Where have I gone wrong?

But what if I made writing my top priority? What if every day, I carved out four or five sacred hours that were indelibly stamped with my initials? Hours that could not be reassigned to doctor’s appointments or trips to the grocery store or cleaning the refrigerator. Hours filled with actual hours devoted to unraveling a story that begs to be spilled onto the page.

I will admit I’ve had a few impressive starts, but they usually peter out around page 30. Writing is hard work. It takes dedication and discipline. But I have that in spades. Haven’t I dedicated my life to my husband, my kids and cleaning the house? Haven’t I disciplined my kids to ensure they turned out to be fine human beings? I have. No regrets.

But maybe it’s time to start writing. I think I’ll try it, right after I clean out the coffee pot….

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The Oldest Living Middle-Aged Writer (aka Pat Childers) lives in Midwestern flyover country with her dogs. There have been reported sightings of her husband. In between innings of the Cubs game she works on her novel.