Review by Betty Winslow
Having a hard time carving out time to write? Yeah, me too. Life is often so full of responsibilities, distractions, crises, and interruptions that getting anything extra done seems impossible. Novelist and freelance writer Kelly L. Stone completely understands; she established her own freelance writing career while holding down a full-timejob and raising a family.
Do I hear you asking, in a wistful voice, “But how?” Have hope, fellow writers! Reading Stone’s Time to Write (with its bold cover promise of “No excuses, no distractions, [and] no more blank pages”) will answer that question a dozen times over. No matter where you are in your writing career or what sort of writing you do, you should be able to find something helpful in Stone’s bag of tips, tricks, advice, and encouragement from more than 100 professional writers. (And if you don’t, read it again. You probably missed something the first time through!)
Trying to figure out how to balance writing and family life? Wondering if a schedule might help your production level? Dealing with distraction, rejection, or your inner critic? Looking for some useful tools to make your writing life smoother? All that and more is covered, in the voices of writers like Jodi Picoult, Debbie Macomber, Sandra Brown, Cecil Murphey, Steve Berry, and Rick Mofina.
However, if you’re curious about how exactly Stone herself does it, you’ll probably be a bit disappointed. Aside from a few (very) brief personal comments and anecdotes sprinkled here and there, she keeps her own writing life pretty much in the dark, which means you may end up (as I did a few times) wondering out loud, “So, how did you do this, Kelly?”
Still, this is a minor quibble. It in no way detracts from Time to Write’’s value to anyone who’s ever wondered how on earth to cram writing into an already jammed life. Are you already shaking your head and muttering, “There’s no way!” There is. Truly. Reading Time to Write can help you figure out ways to fit writing into your own busy life. No more excuses!
Postscript: Time to Write also introduced me to a number of writers I was not be familiar with, and some intriguing titles. Looks like I’ll be using Stone’s tips to make time to read, too!
AW’er Betty Winslow has been freelancing for almost 30 years and her writing has appeared in many magazines and eight books (and on several other websites).