A Writer's To Do List

from C.D. Hersh 

If you’re like us, you have a to-do list. It’s filled with the mundane - but necessary - things that must be accomplished to make life run smoothly: go grocery shopping, pay the bills, do the laundry, call the plumber to unstop the toilet. Sometimes these things, and life in general, can get in a writer’s way. But just sitting down at the keyboard isn’t the only thing a writer needs to do. There’s more to writing than putting words to paper or on computer screens. Here are a few suggestions we came up with for your to-do list. Don’t just write - feed your soul and your muse too.

1. Read. Read books, magazines, newspapers, the back of cereal boxeswhatever you can get. Writers must be readers.

2. Visit McDonald’s at lunchtime and pretend you’re a kid again. Buy a Happy Meal, eat it slowly, play with the toy, play with your food, make kiddie noises, and watch the other kids play. Writers must be able to get into the skins of other people to write realistically.

3. Make a journal entry. Write about your dreams, your past, your goals, your feelings. Free-write to let creativity reign. Writers must tap into the unconscious, creative brain functions that allow characters to come alive, ideas to bubble to the surface, and creativity to flow.

4. Take a walk, jog around the block, visit the gym. Writers need exercise to stay healthy.

5. Spend time with people. Writers can’t be lone wolves all the time. We need the stimulation of companionship to recharge.

6. Pull your lawn chair under a tree and look up at the sky. Writers need time to stare into space and dream.

7. Sleep late, go to bed early, take a nap. Writers need their rest so they can be alert to the world around them.

8. Remember a time when your emotions ran high and re-experience it. Feel the anger, love, hate, fear, loneliness, sadness, courage, and jealousy. They are part of life. Writers must be able to pull emotions to the surface in order to write with passion.

9. Close the office door and spend time by yourself. Writers need to be alone to create.

10. Write today, tomorrow, and every day. Writers aren’t writers unless they spend the time doing the one thing, they, by their very nature, can’t avoid doing. Spill your passion onto the page and release the magic into your writing life.

Putting words and stories on paper is second nature to co-authors C.D. Hersh. They've written separately since they were teenagers and discovered their unique, collaborative abilities in the mid-90s. As high school sweethearts and husband and wife, Catherine and Donald believe in true love and happily ever after, and that’s why they write romance.

In addition to writing Catherine and Donald love antiquing, traveling, singing, and going to the theatre. Catherine is also an avid gardener and has drawn Donald into her garden as a day laborer. They figure the couple who plays together and works together, stays together—and that's just what they aim to do.

Second Editions Coming Soon:

Ghosts and Gardenias

The Promised One The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 1
Blood Brothers The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 2
Son of the Moonless Night The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 3
The Mercenary and the Shifters The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 4

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