The Single Most Important Rule of Writing

[image error]

The best rule of writing.

“Ass in the chair.”–Nora Roberts, on the secret to her success

Above is Nora Roberts’ simple, one-step process to writing. She should know; she’s currently working on her 204th book right now. (She’ll probably be done with it before you finish reading this blog.) Best-selling authors Stephen King, Haruki Murakami, and Walter Mosely do it, too. Probably a lot of really successful authors use the same method: They sit down, hopefully on something comfortable because they know they’re going to be in that spot for quite some time, and they write.

That, apparently, is how books get written.

I may not be as famous as these authors, but having written a few books myself, I concur. When I wrote the Smallville novels, I didn’t do much else but write them. When I was writing Cherries in Winter, my agent put me on lockdown. (One day I was just out getting food and she called me. “I hear traffic in the background,” she said. “What are you doing outside?!”) And when I wrote my novel Beach Glass, I don’t think I moved from my desk for the eight weeks it took to get the novel’s first draft done.

There are two big potholes to this seemingly simple method of getting your writing done. One, actually doing it; and two, finding the time if you have a job to do and a family to take care of.

In this case, structure is the thing all authors, famous or not, agree on. However much or little time you have to write, you have to make that time, carve it into your schedule, and then DO IT. Even if you only write for an hour a day before everyone else in the house has woken up or after they’ve gone to sleep, you must stick to that schedule. Otherwise, you’re not writing, and if you’re not writing, your novel or nonfiction work won’t get done.

This applies to anything you want to do, not just writing. My Hubbins has no plans to become a professional photographer, but he loves taking pictures, so he spends all of his free time focused on refining his skills. (Fortunately the pair of us are fairly obsessive, so we sit together in our home office, he focused on his computer, me focused on mine. Occasionally, we lift our heads, blow a kiss, ask for feedback, and get right back to it. Ah, love!)

If your heart is burning to do something, whether it’s writing or photography or playing the ukulele or whatever, look at your schedule. Find at least an hour a day. If you can find more time without loved ones going hungry or wilting from neglect, devote more time. This is what I did: I put my ass in the chair. So far, one novel sold, and now a second one with the beloved agent.

I think Nora would approve.

Photo of “Ass in Chair” ring from Susan Vallee. You’ll have to ask her where to get the ring.