If you want to write

Time is so precious, we all know this to be true. And yet I wish I’d valued my time more when I was younger. I had more time to write then than I likely ever will again, but I didn’t know it or appreciate it. Obligations only increase with age. Finding time to write becomes more challenging as you have to hold down a job, raise children, care for aging parents, and do all the other things that are part of adulthood. That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to write when you’re older. Of course, you will if you want to. You can always find reasons to write no matter how much or how little time you have. And you can always find reasons not to write, too.

Every day I try to find reasons to write. I don't always succeed. Sometimes the day's events conspire against me. But I keep my characters close to me. I think about them when I'm driving or making a breakfast (maybe that's why the eggs are always overcooked!) or waiting for the school pick-up. I think about them so they'll be waiting for me when I get back to the keyboard.

The chance to write is a gift. It can be a balm for loneliness. You will meet characters who surprise you and linger with you long after their stories are written. With any luck, it will connect you to readers who are moved by your stories, too. It’s solitary, yes, and a little peculiar, but I feel gratitude every day when I sit down to my blank screen.