Being a homeschool mom of five, my work schedule is whenever I can manage a free minute. Usually in the afternoons or evenings when the kids have finished their work and are occupying themselves. Ideally I would write every day, but realistically I manage a few days a week.
As a kid all I ever wanted to be was a teacher and a writer. I don't think I thought about them as careers or professions, exactly, those things were just who I was. I did get a degree in teaching, but between long hours of work and school followed by getting married and having a family, I lost the drive and creativity for writing for a long time. Now that I have rediscovered the stories inside me, I still feel them as part of my identity, but I look forward to sharing them with many readers around the world.
The cover and title form the first impression the reader has of a book. As a reader myself, especially one who has more opportunity to shop online than in-store, it takes a fantastic cover to get me to stop scrolling. The title needs to intrigue me, drop a hint that matches the cover without telling me so much that I lose interest before I even open it. A well-done cover tells me that the author cared deeply about his or her story and wanted others to care deeply as well. A poorly done cover doesn't give me much hope for quality writing.
Every writer experiences times of block. I think it is important to acknowledge it as a normal part of the process. Usually when I hit a block I take a break for a few days to take the pressure off. Then I talk over what I do have with my husband who can throw a million ideas into the breach for me to grab hold of and work with. I strongly suggest finding an individual or a group off people that will be willing to brainstorm with you when you get stuck. You don't need the whole plot planned out for you, just a few good ideas that you can rearrange and combine to suit your needs.
The hardest part is getting the story down on paper. I'm what writers like to call a pantser, as in "fly by the seat of my pants." I don't have a plan and usually don't know what's going to happen ahead of time. Once the bones are there, I can go back and fill out the story with detail and character development, but getting the skeleton can sometimes be excruciating. Despite that, it's my favorite part. The most tedious, unloved part of the process for me is final edit/proofread. I do it myself because it would feel like giving up a baby to hand it over to someone else, but I really do hate doing it.
I grew up writing and telling stories, dreaming of being a published author. Life forced a long break from it, but I started again a few years ago with all the wealth of life experience gained behind my pen. What got me going again was attending a series of lectures by a sweet little old man whose lectures were more literally stories woven together to teach a lesson. I sat captivated for the entire series, and when it was over, the stories I had forgotten began to awaken inside me again. I thought I didn't really have time for it, but scribbling made me feel better when I was blue, so I started just writing for fun when I needed a break. Before long my family was insisting that I make time to write regularly, and my first novel was born.
