That’s a video of crime novelist Jason Pinter describing how he built his third novel, The Stolen, from the ground up. It’s so important for aspiring writers to hear these stories, to remember that novels don’t magically appear out of thin air.
Today, Pinter is our special guest, explaining how he found time to balance his work-life and writing-life—a tough balance for any writer.
Welcome to my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality conversations with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing.
Jason Boog:
While writing your series, you worked as a busy book editor. How do you balance your work-life and writing life? Any advice for harried writers struggling to find time to write with a day-job?
Jason Pinter:
I started to write my first novel--one that didn't sell--in college, before I worked full time (you can guess if I was a good student based on that). Continue reading...
So I was writing before I began to edit--though I loved editorial and would have been happy with that as a career.
I think it's simple: if you truly love something, you make time for it. Most of the writers I know don't do it full time, they either have a few hours set aside every day, or do it whenever they have time.
I tended to do most of my writing when I got home, later in the night after I'd decompressed from the work day. Writing a book isn't easy, and it's not supposed to be.
Every writer has been harried at some point, very few people 'accidentally' become writers. You have to work at it, hone your craft, suffer through rejections, and hopefully eventually find the light at the end of the tunnel.
And you'll appreciate it that much more when you do.
Comment Preview