The Gift of Time

Finally, I have a chance to write about last Saturday's SCBWI conference. And I'm so annoyed that I haven't been able to find the time to write a post sooner.
Vacation has been over for a week and I'm back in the daily grind of work and other obligations. And the daily frustration of having each day slip away before I had a chance to sit down and do some serious writing.
I need to keep in mind the messages of Laurie Halse Anderson's inspiring keynote address at the conference. One thing she advised us writers in the audience to do is give ourselves "the gift of time" - at least fifteen minutes a day (an hour a day is even better) - for writing. It creates a sense of commitment, and will eventually become a habit.
Finding enough time for writing has always been a problem for me. Life tends to get in the way of writing. And time goes by too fast. And too many writing projects have languished, unfinished.
I need to work on this, and try to figure out a way to carve out enough time, in each busy day, for some productive writing. I don't have the luxury of unlimited free time, like I had during my vacation. And I know this life isn't going to change anytime soon. I will still need to work, sleep, and deal with the issues of everyday life. Time isn't going to stop so I can finish my book. So I have to will some blocks of time to open up for me and I need to do as much writing as I can during those spaces of time.
I have a new incentive to finish my book - at the conference, I got favorable and encouraging critiques on both my manuscript sample and my sample query letter. So now I'm really motivated to work on What Luck until it's done, and it's good enough to submit.
Right now, it's 10:45pm, and I have to work at 7am tomorrow. But I can take fifteen minutes to write before I go to sleep. And the fifteen minutes of writing time starts - now.