Daily writing and the writing day

A writing mentor told me years ago that it is important to write every day. Of course I didn’t follow that advice, I have a life after all. It’s hard enough to find some time to write, let alone some time every day. But now I have a couple of weeks off and I’m writing every day, and I am reminded of that advice and how wise it is. Not because writing every day makes us better writers, but because writing every day makes us write. The more we write the more we write. It seems obvious, but it isn’t really. As days go by without any writing, I forget to make the time to write. Other things like getting Rowan to his soccer game, or making it to the grocery store before it closes, become more important. The writing time slips off the list to lie forgotten on the floor. But when I write each day, I remember to make time the next day to write, and the next day after that, and the next day. And suddenly a project is closer to completion. It seems so easy, so simple. So now, as part of living as an artist, I am going to talk to my family about structuring our days so that I have a bit of time each day for writing. Maybe that way some of my half started projects will actually get finished.